HitMan
by Yaoifan01
Summary: A feared killer spoken only in whispers, Itachi follows a bloodstained path that can only lead to his death. Naruto comes to the conclusion that he is a coldblooded monster, but is that what he really is? SasuNaru ItaNaru AU:DARK fic
1. prologue

**Disclaimer:**NARUTO was created by Kishimoto. Meaning, I don't own it. This is a fan work made by fans for the fans, but the ideas are purely Yaoifan01's. There was no harming of animals during the production of this fanfiction...

**Parings:** SasuNaru, ItaNaru, OroNaru, ShinoHina **Shounen-ai** **content**

**Rated M:** For non-stop action, violence, cussing, sexual themes, torture, blood and gore, attempted rape, a not very nice Itachi…ect, ect. I don't care how old you are, just keep in mind this is made for mature audiences by me (and mostly for _my _own enjoyment) and will have no boundaries what so ever. Not for the easily offended.

**Other Notes:** This is an AU that takes place in the futuristic/post apocalyptic modern world (2095 A.D). In this fanfiction Sasuke and Itachi are not related. I am going to try my best to keep everyone In Character, but some OCC may slip out.

Very special thanks to:

TangoOFDOOM(preface writer) and CherryLolaCola (beta-er)

**X x**_Read at your own risk!_ **x X

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**--HitMan STAGE I---** Prologue part1:_ fate

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_

The snowflakes fell gently to the ground.

Overall everything was silent, not a single person was around. Sasuke didn't mind this, he hated all walks of life. He had a right after all, life here on this planet was hell. It was even worse living as an underage prostitute, as he was. But being in that profession wasn't an uncommon thing as it once was fifty years earlier. Barely fourteen, he was actually too old for the profession as people where dying at a much younger age.

He urged himself forward, fighting the freezing wind. The last thing Sasuke wanted was to get lost in his thoughts. Because of his age he had to do more to please his boss, Orochimaru. Without him, he was no better than anyone else living on the streets.

At times his boss was a cruel man, earlier he had sent Sasuke out on a errand with nothing but a thin kimono and sandals. He shivered violently and clenched his kimono tighter around his body. The pouch full of money was strapped tightly to his thigh, hidden beneath his clothes.

As he lifted his gaze, he spotted a young boy.

Even beneath layers of dirt, the child was beautiful and bug eyed. He had to have been ten years, at the very least. Sasuke continued walking, trying his best to ignore the child. As he got closer the boy was walking the opposite direction of him. Finally he was so close Sasuke could almost smell him. All of a sudden, the child tripped on a pile of loose snow and bumped into Sasuke's shoulder.

Disgusted, Sasuke pushed him away. The boy fell head first into the snow, after a few moments he pulled himself up, and continued walking in a daze, as if nothing happened. Sasuke was late running errands for his boss Orochimaru, and decided to take a shortcut under the railroad. Then, noticing that his pockets had considerably lightened, frantically searched his kimono.

The kid had just robed him.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted. The blond boy turned to look at him, a small smile forming at his lips, and ran even faster, doing everything in his power to lose the man tailing him.

Without thinking, Sasuke chased after the blonde, running around madly while knocking into anonymous people and trash cans. The only good thing was that he had forgotten the cold. Getting tired of the chase, he put all his strength into a leap and tackled the young boy from behind, sending him crashing face first into the dirty street. Sasuke yanked him up of the ground by his shaggy, blond hair and slammed him against a brick wall.

When Sasuke looked closely at the boy he realized he could count the kid's ribs through his tattered black tee shirt and there were ragged holes the size of quarters in his filthy orange pants. Sasuke smirked.

_What a disgusting pathetic creature._

But he couldn't shake the thought that this is what he would have become if he stayed on the streets: a lowlife nothing just doing his best to survive a cold, uncaring world. Or maybe, he thought, he himself _is_ that lowlife creature, seeing a reflection of himself in the face of a stranger.

The thief was rendered speechless by disbelief. This was the first time anyone has ever caught the boy pick-pocketing. After a few moments, the child managed to mumble, "I'm sorry….I'm so sorry it won't happen again, so please, don't hurt me."

Sasuke could do one of two things, beat the living shit out of the boy for making him later then he already was, or he could be merciful. It was only a week before Christmas. So being in the holiday spirit, he decided to be generous this evening.

Hastily Sasuke let go of the thief and said: "Come a long, then."

The child was confused. "I don't understand, mister?"

"My boss is looking for a wash boy. I can't guarantee you will get the job, but it's worth looking into. So, what do you say? Will you come with me? The decision is yours, after all. I don't really care either way." He turned around his long blue and white kimono flapping in the breeze.

The blue eyed boy nodded. He knew what he needed to do. If there was any good chance at survival, this older boy was it. He trotted behind the older, cleaner and more civilized young man.

"What is your name?" His rescuer asked.

"My name? " This was the first time in months anyone asked for his name. For almost as long as he could remember he had just been called 'little shit' or 'bastard child'. He was more than happy to be called by his name for once, and so, gave it easily.

"It's Naruto, may I ask yours?"

"You are to address me as Sasuke and nothing else."

"Yes, Sasuke, sir."

After Sasuke's errand, Naruto followed him to the place where he was to be working, it was a fine mansion uptown. The building itself was five stories tall, surrounded by a monstrously tall, rusty fence open to anyone if they have the money. In front of the door there was a wooden board that was labeled, 'The Pink Cobra'

Naruto stared at it, thinking silently about its name and why it was called that.

Once inside, Naruto began to look around. It didn't take him long to notice the beauty of the place: The house was built on a acre plot of land, most of which had been dedicated to the impressive gardens that surrounded the building, everything buried under a thin layer of snow. And to the left side of the property there was a small hill, which was home to a huge cherry blossom tree, its branches bare from the winter, he could imagine its beauty in the springtime covered entirely in little pink blossoms.

At his new place of work the first people Naruto met were Tenten and Neji, in the mansion. He was walking with Sasuke to Orochimaru's office when he passed by them.

"Is this our new wash boy? Oh my god! He is just too adorable!" The crazy girl doing all the squealing was tall and thin, wearing her dark hair in two buns on both sides of her head. She hugged the small boy tight, crushing him against her small breasts. "I love him! I love him!"

"Don't assume that filthy thing is going to work here." Orochimaru—Mr. Sasuke's boss—had just walked into the room. Naruto thought he rather resembled a snake, but thought it best not to say anything.

"I'll work my hardest, I swear!" Naruto bowed his head low, speaking with earnest enthusiasm. "I won't be any trouble and I swear I'll work my hardest!"

Sasuke watched with unease as Orochimaru's golden eyes light up when he looked the boy up and down, and couldn't help but shudder at the sight of the smirk now clinging to the corner's of his boss's mouth.

"Hmm… I'll tell you what, kiddo, if you do a good job for the next two weeks then you've got yourself a job." Orochimaru turned to Sasuke. "Since you brought him here, he is your responsibility. Take him under your wing."

Neji stared at Naruto, his arms crossed leaning back against the arched doorway. He had no interest in welcoming the boy to his new home. He turned to Sasuke.

"It's not like you to bring home strays."

Before Sasuke could respond Naruto tugged on Neji's long silk kimono.

"Nice to meet you, miss. My name is Naruto." The child said innocently; his dirty hand extended to the dark-haired prostitute. "I think you're really pretty."

"I'm a mister, not a miss." Neji corrected, he was used to people mistaking him for a woman.

Naruto stood still, staring up at him until Neji grasped his hand and slowly began to shake it.

"It's nice to meet you, Naruto."

Tenten smiled and leaned over to whisper to Sasuke. "Wow… Neji actually spoke! I think he might actually like our new wash boy."

"Whatever," Sasuke said turning to walk away.

For the longest time Sasuke never treated Naruto like a human, but a stray dog. He would feed him nothing but old bread, cheese and warm water when he was thirsty. Whenever Naruto did something wrong, like misplace Sasuke's things or not clean something to Sasuke's standards, or just because Sasuke was angry and he needed to hit something, he would beat the boy senseless, or just until Naruto couldn't move.

Even disgusted with his own actions, Sasuke couldn't stop himself. It was an out of body experience for him. However once the deed was done, he would rub his hands and walk away. He knew the child was curled in a ball shivering, but oddly he never cried.

Naruto made sure to keep the bruises well hidden from Tenten and Neji, he didn't want them to worry over him. Over the weeks he had spent there, Naruto had grown very fond of them after all and didn't want to worry them with his troubles. He knew the second he met them that they would be special to him.

When Christmas came, Neji and Tenten where the first people to give Naruto a gift. Those were his first gifts. Iruka was way too poor to buy Naruto any Christmas gifts. Iruka could barely afford any food, but that never once bothered Naruto.

Sometimes, Naruto would think of Iruka. He was the kindest man he had ever met. Even though he wasn't biologically his child, Iruka took care of him...until he died.

But despite the cruel treatment he got from Sasuke, Naruto never once stopped smiling. Which meant no one suspected anything. This puzzled Sasuke, so he would treat Naruto worse.

At night Sasuke would lay awake at night thinking about the boy, who slept curled in a little ball on the floor by his bed without a blanket or pillow. Why was he so mean to Naruto? Why did he find himself staring at the boy for hours as he played in Orochimaru's garden? Why did his heart hurt when the boy was not by his side?

These questions plagued Sasuke day and night.

He loved the way Naruto's eyes closed when he smiled. He loved the way Naruto stayed by Sasuke's side when he was sick. He loved the way Naruto looked at him like he was a god. He loved the way Naruto would dance every time he got a bowl of hot ramen—his favorite food. It took Sasuke two whole years to realize he loved Naruto, but he was clueless when it came to showing how he felt.

Sasuke could never forget the day when he told Naruto his feelings. Naruto's reaction was something of a shock to him.

"Sasuke do you have a fever?" Naruto said, putting his hand on his forehead.

"Did you hear what I said? I care about you...I—"

"I heard you just fine. But it's wrong, Sasuke, we're both guys for one thing. Do you know what people do to guys who like other guys? They kill them! They hang them on a tree in front of the whole town to see."

"I'll protect you." Was all Sasuke could say as he bent down and clamed Naruto's lips.

It was the first time they kissed.

Even though Sasuke was a prostitute he had never before kissed anyone. Whether it is a man or woman Sasuke had always pushed their faces away. "You forget that we live in a red light district, not the city. It's ok, I will protect you. I won't hurt you ever again, I promise."

"I love you, too." Naruto buried his face into the older boy's chest. Naruto meant what he said: he did love Sasuke. And after their intense confession, Sasuke began to treat Naruto much better. He gave Naruto his own room, a bed, even better food to eat. He also trusted Naruto enough to let him go out on his own.

But in the back of his mind, Naruto knew promises are meant to be broken.

They always did.

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**--HitMan STAGE I---** Prologue part II: _The Beginning

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_

"Please," the cowering man begged. "Please don't kill me! I have a wife and kid!"

The tall dark figure standing over the sobbing man looked impassive. His long raven-colored hair was tied up in a ponytail and his eyes were blood-red, making him look, for all intents and purposes, a demon from Hell. He was dressed in a white vest and an ankle-length black leather cloak. In his left hand he held an unused knife.

"I-I have money, I can pay you…is that it? Is that what you want?" The man began to fumble in his pockets dropping his lose change on the wooden floor.

The raven-haired man smirked; he always loved to give his victims time to scream and beg for their lives: the rush it gave him was what he lived for, really. He enjoyed the sound his knife made when it entered their throat and the snapping of the neck that followed. And that's exactly what he did.

The body collapsed on the floor, arterial spray splattering across the walls. The killer took a step back, watching the red substance soak in the floor. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a woman carrying a small child in her arms, standing wide-eyed with shock in the corner of the room.

"You saw everything, didn't you?" the killer asked voice cold, but mild.

The woman didn't say anything. She just looked at the body of her dead husband lying face down in her living room floor. This is a nightmare, she thought. I'm asleep in my bed right? This isn't real, right? She turned her questions to God. It was no use, of course, God wasn't around; he was never around. He'd turned his back on humanity never cared about us humans in the first place.

The unknown killer walked up to the woman. She could see his face clearly now as he had stepped out of the shadows. He was extremely attractive. The pale man looked at her, his blood red eyes showed no traces of human emotion.

"You where suppose to be at your sister's house until four p.m. next week," he informed her, meaning he knew their habits and plans. It obviously wasn't just a spur-of the-moment murder.

"I-I decided to come home early."

"I see."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes."

She looked down at the child in her arms, and then said calmly: "Go ahead and kill me, but please, let my baby go, she doesn't know anything."

The killer didn't move. He wanted her to fight, to protect her child from him—a cold-blooded murderer. She did nether, which puzzled the man. He had never expected this to happen.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"Well, before you do kill us…Can I at least know your name?"

The killer wiped his knife clean on his pant leg, before taking out a gun from his back pocket. He loaded it with five gold bullets, just in case she did decide to run.

Then he pointed the gun at her forehead allowing the reality to sink in. She never moved.

"Uchiha Itachi." He said, allowing her to have that much.

"Well Itachi," she said slowly as she closed her eyes, holding the sleeping child to her chest. "I see such pain on you. I hope that one day your pain will be gone."

There was a volley of loud bangs as five gun shots echoed throughout the dead man's house.

_**-oOo-**_

_Pain_

_Sorrow_

_Fear_

Konoha, once known for hope and fame, now the city of chaos and the graveyard of broken souls. After years of fear, death, to most, is a blessing.

_War_

_Famine_

_Disease_

The smell is unbearable, the smell of rotting flesh and the decomposing bodies that scatter the floor like decorations of a house. The buildings that once touched the sky now lay in crumbles serving as a tomb for the hopeless to wonder.

Naruto's stomach grumbled. It has been two years since he has met Sasuke, and since then his life has gotten a lot easier. He had gotten bigger too.

The blond hated the winter; it was the hardest time to get food in the big city, not that it was ever particularly easy. He walked down towards the shopping center, just to look at the food, and breathe in the smell of it, the wonderful aromas of cooking cinnamon bread. He could pretend he had to go shopping for Iruka, just like he used to in the days before he had met Sasuke.

He stopped and stared at a little girl, about half his age, begging people for money. She had short pink hair and a broad forehead; she wore a dirty wrinkled red dress. It was obvious that she was new on the streets.

In a way she was like how he used to be.

In the year 2095, Konoha is the poorest country in the world. Naruto had long been numb and unaffected by the atrocities he sees in the streets around him. Every day hundreds of people starved and died. If hunger didn't kill you, then the horrible diseases did. It had become an all too common sight to see dead or staring children on the street corners and in the gutters. The government (if you could call it that) didn't give a damn about its poor people and left them to rot where they lay.

Mostly, people seemed to believe that it all started after the third war, when Konoha lost—badly—and had to give over all power to the enemy nations. Once all the resources had been mined and taken, the enemy moved out of country leaving nothing of use behind for the population to survive on.

Twenty years had passed since then and things had only gone from bad to worse.

Naruto had been an orphan for as long as he could remember, but he was one of the few lucky ones who had someone to care for him. His self-appointed caretaker was a middle-aged man by the name of Iruka. Naruto knew the story by heart of how Iruka had found him on a dirty blanket by a dumpster in the ally way, barely alive. Iruka had taken the 2-year-old boy in, but it would be a whole year before the blonde child could learn to trust him. When the wall between them was finally torn down they became family and best friends.

But as with all things, nothing could last forever, no matter how good, or how much someone wanted it to. Iruka, the only person who had ever acknowledged Naruto's existence, had been killed by a car four years ago, leaving Naruto to fend for himself in the world.

The twelve-year-old boy walked to where the young pink hared girl was sitting and asked:

"Hey kid, what are you doing?"

"That lady saided that I needed moneys to buy food."

The girl pointed at a food cart that had sandwiches and warm fresh baked muffins. "Mommy loves making muffins in the winter and—"

"Where's your mommy now?" Naruto asked as kindly as he could.

The girls smile faded. "My daddy said she went to heaven. I don't know where that is, do you mister?" Naruto shook his head. "I want to bring her back!" the pink-haired girl suddenly began to cry. "I want my mommy!"

Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for the girl: it was the same for a lot of the kids on the streets. One parent dies the other end up dumping the child at the park 'forgetting' them.

"Um…What's your name?"

"Sakura! My name means cherry blossoms in Japanese! My mommy loved cherry blossoms so she named me Sakura!" she chirped happily. "And you?"

"Naruto."

_This could be a mistake, this girl talks way too much_, Naruto thought to himself. "Well Sakura, I got to go. It was nice meeting you!" _I don't have time to talk, Sasuke is going to kill me for being so late!_

The girl grabbed hold of Naruto's dirty orange jacket, her green eyes silently pleading with him. "Don't leave me alone! Please…"

The blonde boy sighed and gave a grin. "What if I show you how to get a muffin for free?"

The girl let go, looking wide-eyed and hopeful. "Really? For free?"

"Yeah, you'll just have to keep watch for me, ok?"

Sakura nodded her head, and watched while Naruto walked over to the food cart. The owner seemed busy talking to a customer. _Perfect!_ The boy reached his arm out and took the warm banana-nut muffin in his hand and walked away. But today wasn't his day, the owner saw him from the corner of his eye and he grabbed onto the boy's wrist, hard.

"You little shit; do you think you can steal from me?"

Naruto squirmed beneath his grip. "I-m sorry! I won't do it again! I swear! "

The old man was about to strike the boy when a pale hand stopped him.

"I told the boy to get me the muffin." A tall man with black, shoulder-length hair, pale skin and golden eyes in an expensive purple tuxedo looked at the blonde boy.

"Mr. Orochimaru, sir! I-I'm very sorry, sir, I didn't know."

"Now you do."

Orochimaru paid for the muffin and went on his way. But before he left he looked over his shoulder at Naruto and smiled cruelly.

_Shit, now I'm going to pay for this later,_ Naruto cursed. _Damn you Orochimaru!_

Naruto ran over to Sakura who was sitting on the curb watching the cars go by. Naruto rolled his eyes. _So much for keeping watch._He smiled and handed the steaming muffin to her. She took it gleefully and shoved it into her mouth. When she was done she smiled toothily at Naruto.

"Thank you, Naruto-niisan."

Sakura turned around and looked at Naruto. He seemed sad.

"Nii-san, who was that snake-man?"

"Heh…He's my boss."

-o0o-

"Yesterday Mr. and Ms. Vizcarra where tragically murdered last night in their home. The police believe it to have been a robbery, as all of the valuables where taken."

"It was horrible sight," one of the police officers said. "The husband was stabbed while his wife and three-month-old child were found shot multiple times in the head. How could anyone do this, they po—"

_Click._

"You did your job well Itachi," Orochimaru sat at his desk. "I will be looking forward to doing business with you again."

Itachi glared at him from the shadows, never moving from his spot.

"The money," he demanded coldly.

"Ah, but of course. The money is in the suitcase by my desk, fifteen-thousand in cash just like we bargained."

It gets better I promise! Review please:D


	2. chapter ONE

_Ages__-_ (No order)

Sasuke-16 Naruto-12 _going on 13_

Sakura-5 Orochimaru-35

Neji-17 Itachi-19 Kisame-22

Yaoifan01 A/N- Author notes will always be in the beginning or end of a chapter. Never in-between or in a chapter!

"**---**" Flashback. Only because I personally hate reading endless amounts of italics.

"**-o0o-**" Change in setting

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HitMan **---CHAPTER 01---

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"It's Sakura-Chan! C-h-a-n! Sakura-Chan! Get it right, Naruto-nii-san!"

"But I don't really see the point of honorifics!" Naruto said, sounding exasperated. Both of his hands where full with a big tub of sudsy water. The sun was shining through the window and Naruto could hear the birds chirping outside in the garden.

"It's a sign of respect; my mommy said that if people where more respectful, this world would be a better place, Sasuke-kun would know what I mean."

Naruto grinned. As much as he hated to admit it, he had grown attached to the five-year-old girl. She was like the annoying little sister he'd never had. Everyone in the whorehouse called Sakura 'ducky' because everywhere Naruto went she followed right behind him. The blonde boy didn't mind; he enjoyed it, really: he felt like she needed him. It was nice, being needed.

They walked down through the halls, doing their best not to drop the big basin of soapy water on the floor.

"Ok, Sakura-chan! I want you to clean the floors and I'll take care of everything else."

_Three weeks,_ Naruto thought. _Since I went on my hands and knees and begged Orochimaru to let Sakura work here in the red light district._

_-Three weeks earlier-_

"Please, Orochimaru! I promise that Sakura will work hard for you! Just let her live here with me and—"

"This is not a goddamn daycare, Naruto. This is a _whorehouse_: a profitable business. If it wasn't for Sasuke I wouldn't even have you working here. You should be grateful for that."

Naruto bowed his head lower. "I'll work two weeks for free…just, please! Please don't make me toss her out."

Orochimaru's office was a large room, beautifully decorated with plants and flowers in every corner. A few feet above his desk, on the wall behind him, was what he called his 'work of Art': a giant portrait of himself sitting in a large overstuffed chair with a snake draped around his shoulders. Orochimaru rested his hands on his knees, looking the boy up and down. Then he smiled.

"I think there is a way for you to change my mind, Naruto."

"Really? I promise to have this place shining! I will clean this building so well that you'll be able to see your reflection in the floors! You won't regret it Mr. Orochimaru, sir!" Naruto told him, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

The snake-like boss sighed, "I'm not talking about cleaning Naruto. What I really want is for you to—"

"Get off the floor, Naruto. I'll talk to Orochimaru about Sakura."

Orochimaru sat up from his chair."Ah, Sasuke-kun. I didn't see you come in."

Sasuke stood at the doorway. He wore his usual long, blue kimono that dragged on the floor. Naruto stood up, nodded and trotted obediently out the door. If anyone could talk Orochimaru into anything, it was Sasuke.

Once Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke untied his obi and let his kimono fall to the ground. He stood in all his nude glory, proud and arrogant in the face of Orochimaru's roving gaze.

"Why are you willing to go so far…just for that Naruto kid? Really, what exactly is that boy to you?"

"I told you a million times before, I love him."

The bone-cracking laugh sent a cold shiver of disgust and fear down Sasuke's naked spine.

"I think there's something you fail to understand about all this: you are a working whore. You don't _get_ the satisfaction of having a lover. Without me you would still be out on the streets giving blowjobs for petty cash and digging moldy sandwiches out of the trash."

The snake-faced man slid one long finger over the planes of Sasuke's naked shoulders.

"Before you brought that boy to me, he was a pickpocket. He even stole from you, and yet you still brought him here. You've only known the boy for two short years and yet you clam to love him? And now you want me to watch yet _another_ brat?"

Sasuke stood still while Orochimaru violated his body with his long fingers. The snake man leaned closer to whisper in Sasuke's ear, his hand cupping the boy's jaw. "You won't be able to protect that boy for long; he will work here, sooner or later. And I'll tell you right now, I'm going to be his first costumer. And it will be I that will make sweet love to him."

Sasuke smacked Orochimaru's hand away, glaring at the man. "That won't happen. Not while I'm still alive."

_-now-_

After the long day of cleaning and scrubbing the marble floors of the whorehouse, Sakura fell asleep next to Naruto on the blanket in the boys' room. Sakura was sound asleep dreaming of ponies and lollypops or whatever five-year-old girls dream about. Naruto, however, was tossing and turning. Dreams are always made more real when a person's guilt is strong enough to devour them.

-

-

-

Naruto found himself standing a cemetery, amongst hundreds of gravestones. Iruka's gave stone was plain: nothing more than a name scribbled on a rock. At the time the little boy had no money and couldn't afford to buy a proper gravestone with an angel or something special. All he wanted was the best for Iruka.

It was the same as the day Iruka was buried. Naruto was dressed in black, the color of mourning and death. The old sadness came over him again.

Iruka…

It seemed for a moment that all time stood still. In a blink of an eye, the gray clouds turned red and the blue sky bled black.

_What the hell?_ It was then that a partially rotten hand clawed its way out of Iruka's grave, pulling up clots of dirt and sod. Naruto stepped back, terrified. _What the fuck?_

Bodies all around the cemetery pulled themselves free from their resting places, and turned their blind dead eyes to stare accusingly at Naruto. Then Iruka, the man Naruto loved like a father, stood before him.

Iruka's body was moldering and decomposed, Naruto could see his bones through his rotten gray flesh. The smell was terrible, it invaded all his senses until he thought he choke on the taste of it. His flesh and muscle tissue was literally falling away from his bones, chunks of it landing with soft 'splat's on the soft earth. Maggots and worms made ate at his insides, forever crawling from inside his body.

"_Naruto? I thought I meant the world to you? Why did you let me die? How could you do this to me? I loved you…"_

"I didn't mean for anything to happen to you." The dead thing that had once been Iruka moved closer, his bony hand stretched out to the trembling boy.

"_Why didn't you die instead? It was your fault. You don't deserve happiness. I hope you burn in Hell, you little bastard!"_

"No, Iruka! Please! It wasn't my fault! I didn't want you to die! You have to believe me!"

Iruka's cold carcass moved toward the blue eyed boy, his skeleton arm slowly snaking out, boney half-rotten hands clenching around his neck, meaning to choke the air out of him.

"Iruka! _Iruka!"_

IRUKA!

Naruto woke up with a start; he was sweaty, breathing heavily and shaking uncontrollably.

_That was one hell of a nightmare_.

Naruto looked at the door and saw that the light was on in Sasuke's room. He got up slowly, so he wouldn't wake up Sakura, and then he tiptoed into Sasuke's room so he could snuggle up against him. Sasuke leaned over and turned on the bed lamplight.

"Naruto? What are you—?" Naruto ran over and rested his head on Sasuke's chest and pressed his lips against the young prostitute's soft cheeks.

"Did you have that nightmare again?" Sasuke pulled off his covers, and pulled Naruto closer to him.

Naruto ignored him.

"I love you Sasuke." he said calmly, Naruto knew he loved Iruka but the love he felt for Sasuke was completely different, something more.

Even though he was older, from time to time, Sasuke would let his guard down and show Naruto his true self. Even if it was only a second. Sasuke blushed and gently pushed Naruto away. "Idiot."

Sasuke may have been experienced but he never went far with the boy. One day when he felt the time was right, Sasuke would take Naruto into his arms and make love to him, but not yet, Naruto wasn't ready to do that yet. He was too young. It had never gone past kissing and hugging.

"It's true! I love you so much! When I get old enough I'm going to take you away from this horrible place! You, me, and Sakura-chan! You'll never have to work as a prostitute again! We'll all live in a nice home by the sea. It will be perfect!" The tanned boy with sunflower hair jumped on the Sasuke's bed.

A small voice from the end of the room chose this time to speak up: "M-me too?"

"Sakura-chan! I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

Sakura shook her head. "I never went to the sea before... has Sasuke-kun and Naruto-nii-san?"

Naruto walked up to Sakura and placed his hand on her head. "I have been once ….with Iruka it was so much fun! The only thing I hated about it was that the sand got in my underwear and food…but everything else was really great!

"Really? Will we go? I can't wait!"

Sasuke watched them. It seemed that Naruto's smile always made the whole room light up. And Sasuke was glad that Naruto found Sakura when he did. She hadn't around for long, but she was already family.

**-o0o-**

He lived in a small house on the east of town. There was only one bedroom with one bath; he kept no furniture except for his dirty mattress, which lay by itself on the floor. The walls where filthy: covered almost entirely in old graffiti, every window in the house was broken and boarded up with planks of wood so the sun would never enter.

This was home to the cold-blooded killer Itachi.

The phone rang, shrill and irritating in the silence of the house. Itachi sat up on the mattress and extended his arm to grab the phone. It rang twice more before he bothered to actually pick it up.

He said nothing into the receiver upon lifting it to his ear, but his breathing seemed to alert the person on the other end that he was listening.

"You have another job: 101 D Lamer Avenue…meet me there tomorrow night at twelve for more details."

"Got it."

"I've been meaning to ask you...what did you do with the money you got from Orochimaru?"

Itachi looked at the big crate labeled in black stencil letters that said 'GUNS' and took up half of his living room space.

"Nothing much, just some new toys to play with."

**-o0o-**

A few hours later Itachi found himself waiting at the old abandoned parking lot at 101v Lamer Avenue. It was filled with broken beer bottles, trash and the rusted-out frames of ancient cars. It was the best place to talk about business with clients because no one was ever around except the occasional drunken bum here and there. It was now 12:05 and Itachi was still waiting for Kisame—his hired assistant who would get him his new jobs.

Finally Itachi heard two sets of footsteps approaching that echoed across the vast parking lot. Two sets of footsteps meant that Kisame had brought someone with him or that someone was following him. Once the two figures where in sight Itachi pulled out his handgun and aimed it at a tall man standing just behind Kisame.

"Wait, Itachi! This is the guy who wants to hire you!" Kisame put his arms up, as if to shield the stranger standing behind him. "Don't shoot him!"

Itachi eyed the stranger warily; he had short messy, silver hair and a black eye patch that covered his left eye. The man was dressed fairly well in a suit and a tie; meaning that he had money. Itachi never lowered his gun.

"You know the rules, Kisame. Why did you bring him here?"

"I know! Never bring anyone to our 'secret' meeting place, but he said he wouldn't do business with us unless he met you in person!"

Itachi frowned then pointed his gun towards Kisame's feet. He shot off four bullets making the poor guy hop on one leg in order to avoid being shot in the foot.

Their guest, however, stood patiently, watching as Itachi made Kisame dance around like a fool.

"Make me wait again and I'll kill you," Itachi informed Kisame, a low growl in his voice.

"But it wasn't my fault! It was him!" Kisame sobbed, sounding panicked and pointed to the stranger.

The sliver haired man smiled and took this statement as his cue to speak to the red-eyed killer.

"Your name is Uchiha Itachi one of the best hit-men in the country. I did some research on you. In the Second Great Depression at the age of nine you killed your entire family for a lousy five dollars." Itachi stood still showing no emotion to what the man was saying. "You're a heartless man, Uchiha, and I admire that."

"You know a lot about me, but I didn't catch your name."

"My name?" The man stroked his chin as if he had forgotten or lost it somewhere. "It's Hatake Kakashi."

_To be continued.._

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Review?


	3. Chapter TWO

HitMan **---CHAPTER 02---

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"Well, Kakashi what business do you have with me?"

"I need you to kill my father."

Never one to waste any time the dark-haired hit man replied: "When, where and how do you want him to die?"

"I don't care, just as long as you make it soon." Kakashi then pulled a yellow envelope out of his coat and handed it to Itachi. "The details of what he looks like as well as his scheduled whereabouts over the next two weeks are in there. You get half the money now, and you'll get the other half just as soon as the job is confirmed."

"You're not from around here, are you?" Kisame asked, having now recovered from the fact that Itachi, his boss, had been shooting at him only five minutes before. "I can tell by your accent that you're from west coast, right?"

Kakashi's fingers wandered through his silver hair. "Yeah, that's right"

"Well, if you want to calm your nerves in a foreign neighborhood, I suggest you book yourself a room at 'The Pink Cobra'"

"Calm my nerves? You mean a whore house?"

"It's the best in town. It's clean and friendly a little costly, but it's well worth the expense. I suggest Ino or Tenten, or if you're into guys, Neji or Sasuke. I can tell you with personal experience that each of them is great in bed."

Unsure as to whether he should feel disgusted or pleased with the new information, Kakashi sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. It was chilly outside and this place was the last place he ever wanted to be. "What about you?" He turned to the hitman, "What do have to say about this 'Pink Cobra' place?"

"I've never been there."

Kisame frowned. _Never been there? You were there less than a month ago to do a hit for your old boss Orochimaru._ "But…now that I think of it, I never have seen my boss buy a whore… I guess he does take his job pretty seriously."

Kakashi looked at the hit-man in disbelief. "Then where do you-"

"I don't have time to be fucking around with whores, my job takes a lot of time and energy, not that it's any of your business."

_Wow_, Kakashi thought, _I never would have known that a beautiful man like this guy would still be a—_

Kisame butted into the conversation "Anyway, it's a traditional Japanese-style building with sliding paper screen doors and everything. You can't miss it: it's right at the heart of Japan town, down by the market."

"T-thank you …I think." Kakashi turned his head towards Itachi. "I need to know, have you ever heard of a man called…Kabuto?"

"I don't believe I have. Why?"

"He is very young scientist, his age is unknown but he looks probably in his teens. I was told that he does gruesome experiments on people, preferably small children. It's said that he dissects them alive and uses chemical substances to make them into super-humans. After giving the children this stuff, their bodies seem to become heavily mutated, mindless, disgusting creatures. The sick bastard even has a name for them; I believe he calls them his 'dark angels'. Anyway, it's said that they wander the night doing his bidding."

"Holy shit…that sounds like a fuckin' sci-fi movie or some sick shit like that," Kisame said, his full attention on the handsome one-eyed man.

Irritated at standing still for so long Itachi says, "What does this man have to do with me?"

"Well, rumor has it that he is after you."

"I wouldn't be surprised: Itachi has a lot of enemies. He is, after all, _the_ Hitman, you know. It's probably some stupid shit like revenge."

Kakashi turns around to make his leave. "Whatever you say, just keep your eyes peeled."

**-o0o-**

_The next day at The Pink Cobra…_

Naruto stared at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru stared back at Naruto.

Naruto quivered down to his socks and said, "You're not serious I mean—"

Orochimaru nodded his head slowly, but surely, telling Naruto just how serious he really was.

Naruto glared at Orochimaru, his eyes narrowing in anger.

Orochimaru grinned, showing pearly white fangs.

A vain began to pulse visibly on the boy's forehead he pointed an angry, accusing finger at the older man waving it in mad frustration.

"There is _no way in Hell I am wearing that thing_! You hear me! There's _no way_!"

At the opposite end of Orochimaru's work room, stood Sakura grinning from ear to ear, staring and preening about her brand new uniform. Orochimaru turned his gaze to the girl before turning his attention back to the highly-vexed Naruto, who stood a few feet away from the front of his desk.

"Ah, but Sakura-chan likes our new work uniform. Don't you, Sakura-chan?"

At the sound of her name she lifted her head and cheerfully yelled: "Yeah! Ni-san, I like our new work uniform!"

"One: I'm not Sakura! Two: I'm not a girl! Three: Sakura, don't you_ dare_ agree with him!"

The uniform in question was a French style maid's outfit, including a frilly white apron with pink ribbons on the side. It was perfect for Sakura as it only made her look even more adorable then she already was. On Naruto, however, it would only make him look like a cheesy porn star.

"Sakura, I'm going to need some time to explain to this boy, about why I'm the boss around here. So, why don't you run along and play in Tenten's room? I don't think she is busy with any customers today."

Sakura had become rather bored with the argument that was going on, and she knew who would win.

He always won.

And so, without further ado, she skipped merrily on her way off to see Tenten.

"Hey, don't you ignore me, you perverted old bastard! You did this on purpose!" Naruto yelled, scowling. He thought of Sakura then, who already left the room. She had been spending an awful lot of time in Tenten's room lately.

Tenten's room was on the fourth story floor, room 487. Little Sakura loved Tenten's room more than anything because it was filled with all sorts of interesting things and beautiful Chinese culture. Sakura loved the fact that Tenten had hand-painted Chinese fans and beautiful silk screens on the walls. But the things Sakura loved the most were the porcelain dolls. Tenten had fifteen of them lined up in a row on a shelf.

Each doll was unique from the next; there was woman, men, and children all in traditional Chinese outfits. Sakura was never allowed to touch them, because she knew that these dolls where very special to Tenten.

"Ducky! It's nice to see you again. Is Orochimaru giving you some time off?"

Sakura nodded and trotted over to where Tenten was sitting alone on her king sized bed.

"You look adorable in that dress! So, do you want to continue our lesson?"

"Yep!"

Tenten smiled and untied her hair so that the dark brown strands fell over her shoulders. She had never particularly liked Sasuke, but ever since Naruto and Sakura came along, he had changed. He seemed kinder now, having these children to look after. It always made her heart warm up in this cold, dark world they lived in, seeing those kids smile. She bit down on her lip, then after long deliberation, she pulled out a small doll on the corner from the shelf. Tenten couldn't help but notice Sakura always her eyeing her dolls when she came to visit.

"Here. You can have this one."

Sakura's eyes widened as Tenten handed Sakura the fragile doll to her.

"I-I can't Tenten! You told me that your mother brought this all the way from China!"

"It's ok, I have plenty more, and besides, I think you would like it more than I do. By the way who are you making that scarf for, Ducky?"

Sakura grinned, showing her jack-o'-lantern teeth.

"It's a secret!"

**-o0o-**

Naruto stood still, looking angry and uncomfortable; which he was. His small hands were balled up into clenched fists. The maid's uniform ended well above his knees, the white nylons where itchy and gave him a bad wedgie, plus the shoes where too small for his feet, and pinched in funny places. Orochimaru had even gone as far as to make him wear a tiny white ribbon in his blonde hair.

And as if all that weren't punishment enough; it was his shift to clean the garden.

_Five minutes earlier…_

"Fine, Orochimaru." Naruto closed his eyes, blushing like crazy. An hour of arguing with Orochimaru was really tiring and if he played his cards just right…

"I'll wear that stupid uniform."

Orochimaru stood up from his chair and handed Naruto the frilly maid's outfit. His face was calm but inside he was jumping for joy, and they both knew it.

"I am very glad you came to your senses, Naruto."

Naruto did his best to restrain the anger he felt toward Orochimaru. It took all his effort not to rip the pretty thing into million tiny pieces like he wanted to, but instead he yelled: "I'm not doing this for free, you know! You perverted old bastard…"

Orochimaru folded his arms and leaned into his desk, looking at Naruto with amusement and curiosity.

"Really? Not for free, hmmm? Well, what do you want then? Depending on what it is I may even give it to you."

"I want…"

Orochimaru focused his golden eyes on the adorable little blonde in front of him. The older man's mind began to wander off into a distant fantasy. He could just picture little Naruto, with his thumb pressed against his pouty lower lip, looking oh so sinfully innocent: _"I want you, Orochimaru, sir! I want you to bend me over your desk and have your hot kinky way with my virgin ass!"_

"I want you to let Sasuke to have a week off so that he can take Sakura and me to the beach with him," Real-world Naruto said instead.

Disappointed that fantasies really don't come true, no matter how often he fixated on them, Orochimaru sighed.

"Ugh, why the beach? No one ever goes there anymore. It's filthy and disgusting."

"I know a great place where Iruka took me! Practically no one in the whole world knows about it."

_-now-_

Naruto bent down and so he could scrub the garden path with soap and a scrub brush. It was then that he noticed the unpleasant feeling of someone staring at his ruffled rear end. The hair on the back of his neck went straight up. Naruto did his best to ignore it, of course, but there was only so much he could take. Unable to bear it anymore, Naruto turned around to see a beautiful man with silver hair and eye patch. He was sitting on a bench under a tree in the garden leering at Naruto, with great interest and unmistakable intent.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Naruto suddenly snapped. "Haven't you ever seen a guy in a dress before?"

The handsome stranger stood up walked up toward the incensed boy. He reached a hand out, softly brushing Naruto's baby-smooth cheek.

Offended, Naruto roughly smacked his hand away. "Who the hell do you think you are? Don't touch me!"

"Interesting."

Before Naruto could grasp what was happening the older man bent down and kissed Naruto on his forehead. It was shocking, getting kissed by some stranger, someone he never even seen before. The older man was persistent, moving his face gently down till he met another pair of lips.

Sasuke was looking around for Naruto everywhere. He just finished with his last customer and wanted to talk for a bit—if he could just find him. That was when he saw it. Sasuke felt his heart rip itself to shreds in his chest. Naruto—the one person he truly cared about—had his mouth on that of another man.

"Sasuke! You have a costumer waiting for you!" Tenten placed her hand gently on the shoulder of one stunned-looking Sasuke, as she seemed to be unable to get his attention merely by yelling at him. He twitched suddenly, and seemed to come back to himself, then walked away as fast as he could. Not bothering to look back.

Not bothering to show Naruto that he was there.

Naruto was shaking; this man had him in a grip so tight that Naruto couldn't push him off. He tasted like stale cigarettes and coffee. Finally someone grabbed the stranger's shoulder and pulled him off of Naruto.

"I m so sorry, but this boy is most not for sale. But may I interest you in someone else?"

It was Neji.

Neji was a beautiful young man with gentle, pale blue eyes and dark auburn hair that ran down, past his shoulders. Everyone thought he was prettier than most of the girls at the Pink Cobra. That was why he had been the top whore for so long, but what most people didn't know, was that he was also strong, and extremely smart.

His eyes glared down at Kakashi, who was holding onto someone precious to him. Standing right behind Neji was none other than Orochimaru.

"I'm more than willing to pay you two thousand dollars for one night with this virgin."

Orochimaru paused, looking surprised, as if he was seriously thinking about the offer. Naruto stared pleadingly at the old boss. Deep down he wanted nothing more than to rip Orochimaru's jet black hair from his scalp, because technically, it was his fault in the first place.

"That's a fine offer, but he is not for sale."

Kakashi sighed with disappointment and pulled out a business card. He handed it Orochimaru.

"The second he is for sale, please give me a call." Kakashi took on last look at the blonde, whose face was hidden behind his blonde hair. Then he walked away.

Once the man was gone, Orochimaru looked at the card and tore it to shreds. The wind picked up the shredded pieces from his hand and carried them off, to fall where they may. Not saying a word, Orochimaru left Neji and Naruto alone so he could continue to do business.

Naruto looked up; he had hardly noticed that Neji was caring a big box of chocolates in his hand.

"A friend of mine gave me these and you know I hate chocolate so, I though why not give these to Naruto..."

The blue-eyed boy looked at the offered box of candies and then back at Neji.

"You're a horrible liar, Neji." Neji's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, he turned away hoping Naruto didn't see him. "You bought these just for me, didn't you?"

"I-I umm…it was nothing and besides, your birthday is coming up so…"

Naruto grinned and grabbed Neji's arm, making the older prostitute blush even more fiercely than he already was.

Naruto was so happy that Sasuke didn't see Kakashi kissing him. Knowing Sasuke, he would have kicked whoever laid a hand on Naruto into a bloody pulp.

He was also very grateful to Neji for rescuing him too.

"Thank you, Neji! I really got to go and finish my work, but I'll talk to you later, ok?"

**-o0o-**

Sasuke's face was covered in now-cooling cum. The image of Naruto and that silver-haired stranger filled his mind again, and he had to choke back a snarl of possessive anger. He winced as the man on top of him thrust his cock painfully hard into his soft ass, again and again.

In and out, it was always the same.

"Say my name, Sasuke…" The man grunted.

"Kabuto," Sasuke sighed, trying to keep his mind on his job and act like he was enjoying himself.

"Again…."

"Ahhh, Kabuto…" He whimpered this time, allowing a whine of need enter his voice.

Of all the whores at the Pink Cobra, Sasuke was Kabuto's favorite. He would probably come to visit the dark-haired whore daily if he had the time. But his work was so very important. Kabuto thrust into Sasuke one last time before collapsing forward, and rolling off the boy to lie on his back. He picked up his spectacles by Sasuke's bedside table and slid them up his sweaty nose so that the world around him came back into focus.

"I've seen you around with those children. They seem to put a lot of trust in you."

"They do." Sasuke wasn't really much for small talk after sex, and he didn't particularly like Kabuto.

"I want to buy them from you." He reached over Sasuke and grabbed a cigar from his jacket pocket. Lit it and inhaled.

"Get out."

"Wait, hear me out. What if I could give you the head of the man who killed your mother?"

"What?" Sasuke's mind was in shock. "How did you…know?"

For a second the image of his mother, a beautiful raven-haired woman with black almond eyes, entered his thoughts. He had pushed that woman out of his mind for so long, trying his best to forget that painful memory. The dark memory of him being completely powerless to do anything to save the one he loved.

Sasuke had never pursued revenge: it had happened so long ago and he never could remember the man's face. In his memory, it was just one big blur.

Kabuto's husky voice interrupted his thoughts. "Did you never once want to get revenge by watching that man drown in his own blood?"

Revenge? That word was not unfamiliar to him. It was that man's entire fault. It was because of him that his life was a living hell. Oh, yes, he wanted more than anything in the world to kill that man, but was it really worth losing Naruto and Sakura?

_Naruto, is he cheating on me? No, he wouldn't do that. Would he?_

Kabuto watched Sasuke's mental battle, enjoying the range of emotions playing across the young whore's face. One more mental push like that one and that little boy and the girl would be his to play with.

"I'm willing to give you that chance, the one chance to kill the man who did you wrong. That blonde boy, oh what was his name? Naruto, right? If he loves you, like you think he does, he will probably forgive you."

"How do I know you will keep your end of the deal?"

"Simple. Unlike you I did my homework. I have more than enough proof. I'll even give you the name of this guy, free of charge."

Sasuke stood up and grabbed his favorite blue kimono with a fan embroidered on the back. He slowly slid it on, not taking his black eyes of the naked man reclining on his bed.

"It's Uchiha Itachi, a killer for hire, who did this to you. Don't even think about going after this guy alone, he will kill you in a heartbeat."

Sasuke buried his hands in his face and softly whispered:

"Do what you want to Sakura…but you're not allowed to kill Naruto."

Kabuto had many reasons for doing what he did, none of them for Sasuke, but he was a man of his word so he would get the job done, at all costs. He had won.

**-o0o-**

Naruto was more than happy to get out of that stupid maid's uniform at the end of the day. He quickly changed into his favorite orange kimono.

He couldn't wait to see Sasuke and Sakura's face when he told them that they would be taking a break at the beach. None of the other whores where ever allowed to even step foot out of the pink cobra, for fear they would run away back to their families. But Sasuke was different, he had no reason to run, he had nowhere else to go or family. So that was the reason Orochimaru let Sasuke do many of his errands outside.

It was already fairly late so Naruto opened the door to Sasuke's bedroom as quietly as he could. He was happy to see that they both were both still awake.

Sasuke was sitting on the corner of his bed reading 'Darkness is the Light'; his favorite book. Little Sakura was in her pink night gown playing on the floor with doll she had received from Tenten earlier that day.

Naruto jumped onto Sasuke's bed letting out a holler of joy.

"Guess what? Guess what!"

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura looked up from what the where doing, but they answered at the same time.

"What?"

"We are going to the beach!"

_TO BE CONTINUED……

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_Love it? hate it? Review please :3_


	4. Chapter THREE

HitMan**---CHAPTER 03---**_Part One

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A woman crawled out of the broken window ripping her white skirt on one of the left over shards of glass. She was breathing heavily, unable to get enough air, and her legs were going numb from blood-loss due to the numerous stab wounds her killer had inflicted upon her. The knife itself was still imbedded deep into the flesh of her thigh, buried up to the hilt in bloody tissue.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Somebody is trying to kill me! Help me!"

Itachi watched with smug amusement from the roof top above, as this foolish woman tried to escape from his grasp.

Without realizing it, the hysterical woman had run herself into a dead end. She clawed at the walls with her fingernails until they tore and her fingers began to bleed.

Itachi frowned. This was his chance, probably his only chance before the so-called cops showed up. He jumped from the roof, landing as gracefully as a cat on his feet just in front of where the woman was standing. They stared at each other for a moment before the woman tried to jump the fence. In a flash, Itachi grabbed her ankle and pulled her into the ground.

Itachi looked down on the woman, looking bored and slightly inconvenienced. His mind, however, was screaming for her death. _Kill Her! Kill her! Kill!_ He wanted nothing more than to rip her to shreds, simply for the pleasure of watching her blood pour into the gutters. He loved the sound of bones cracking and the wet sound that chunks of flesh made when hitting the ground.

Smirking, he threw a small pile of photographs at the woman. They scattered across the grimy concrete that would be her grave. Glancing at them, she saw herself sprawled across a bed, naked and sprawled under the bodies of several different men.

"Your husband sends his love."

Her eyes widened with the realization as to why this man was going to kill her. Not knowing what else to do, she began to beg.

"Please, please don't kill me! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" His voice was calm, and he smiled almost warmly as he bent down to caress the woman's cheek.

"Yes," she whispered, nodding, tears and black mascara running down her cheeks. "Anything."

His red glaring eyes looked her up and down, as if considering her offer. "I want you... to…Die."

Itachi grabbed the woman by her hair and pulled her to her knees. He then took his knife in hand, and with a swift jolt, plunged through her throat, tearing her esophagus and vocal chords. Blood splattered in an arc across the walls and floor. Itachi pushed the blade deeper, twisting it as blood rolled down her chest and chin. He took one last look at her blue eyes —fogged by pain and blood-loss— and pushed the woman away from him. She landed on her back; her body was twitching gasping for one last breath that would never reach her lungs.

**Why didn't you shoot her in the stomach and watch her insides fall out? That would have been fun to see.**

**I like the sound of a neck snapping, don't you?**

Itachi snarled, pressing his hands to sides of his head, as if trying to exercise the voices via self-lobotomy. He gasped for breath as the attack on his sanity subsided.

Itachi took off his black leather gloves and wiped his forehead with them, his eyes never straying from the tangled mess in front of him. _This belongs to me._ He bent down and pulled his knife out of the dead woman's neck. His favorite, it had a skull made into the hilt and was perfectly balanced and as light as a feather. He gripped the blade close to his chest.

"Kisame, come out." Itachi ordered.

Kisame slowly stepped out of the shadows and towards Itachi. Kisame's job, aside from getting Itachi his hits, was to keep watch for the police and any passers-by.

The cops. Depending on who it is, can be your best friend or worst nightmare. All of them out to get a buck, you have the money and they will turn a blind eye to whatever you're doing. Itachi never got along with the filthy pigs even before he went to prison.

Kisame turned to face his boss, his brown jacket zipped up to his chin, a rifle slung over his shoulder and a pair of night vision goggles in his pocket. He always tried to avoid his boss's eyes on nights like this. Itachi's eyes after a hit were terrifying: his pupils dilated as if on a high, unable to distinguish between friends or foe, his eyes seemed to say he killed just for the fun of it.

It scarred the shit out of Kisame.

Itachi broke the silence that lingered in the air. "I want you to do me a favor," he said. "The second we return to the city, follow Kakashi. Find out what you can about him and report back to me immediately. There's something about him that I don't trust."

"We took his money, didn't we? I don't see the point."

"Are you questioning me?" Itachi asked, irritated, his wild red eyes settling on the already disturbed Kisame.

"No boss," Kisame said, trying to laugh off the terror crawling up his spine. "It's a good thing we are going home. Kirigakure smells like fish."

"It's not like Konoha like peaches and cream," Itachi told Kisame before stalking off down the street.

**-o0o-**

"Guess what! Guess what!" Naruto hollered jumping up onto Sasuke's bed and knocking over his purple bedside lamp. Luckily it didn't break; Naruto picked it up as carefully as he could, and placed it on the table. He glanced at Sakura who was still playing with her doll and Sasuke still reading his book.

"Guess what! Guess what! _Guess what!_"

"What?" Sasuke and Sakura asked, disinterested.

"We are going to the beach!" Naruto told them in a sing-song voice.

Sakura's eyes lit up, she jumped to her feet and she ran over to where Naruto was standing, the game she had been playing instantly forgotten. She hopped around the room like a bunny, holding her new doll close to her chest.

"Really Nii-san? You're not kidding, are you?"

"Of course I'm not, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, puffing out his chest, he felt like a big brother whenever she was around.

Sasuke, still sounding disinterested, answered. "I'm not going."

"What do you mean _you're not going_?" Naruto asked, shocked and a little bit angry. "The three of us decided a long time ago that we would go together the second we got the chance."

"Did you not hear what I said? I am not going." Sasuke yelled. His voice quivered with anger and annoyance.

Naruto's eyes widened and he took a step back, holding his arms around his chest as if to protect himself from Sasuke's yelling. "I-if you're worried about your work, I talked to Orochimaru about it this morning and he said it would be…it would be okay for you to have a week off."

"You where talking to him alone? I don't want you talking to Orochimaru by yourself. Never again, do you hear me?"

"What's the matter, Sasuke? Is something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

"You don't know Orochimaru like I do, Naruto. Just do as I say, and stay away from him."

Naruto became infuriated. All he wanted was for everyone to have a good time and Sasuke wanted to ruin that. "What the hell do you know, Sasuke? You never gave a shit before! Even before Sakura came here, you always left me alone while you were doing other men!"

Sakura stood, staring wide-eyed, clutching her doll to her chest. This was new to her. Not once since she been in her new home, had she ever seen Sasuke and Naruto fight before.

Naruto felt his eyes begin to burn with tears, he jerked his head away in order to hide the fact that he was on the verge of crying. Too upset to stay in the room any longer, Naruto pushed the door open and ran down the hall. He didn't notice Sasuke put his book down and followed after him.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shirt-collar and shoved him into a storage closet in the hallway. He flicked on the switch and pressed his soft lips against those of the stunned boy.

Naruto began to shake. The closet was getting stuffy and Sasuke was beginning to turn forceful, not letting Naruto breathe. When he did finally let go, Naruto gasped for breath, and Sasuke extended his hand to the boy. Instinctively, Naruto flinched away when Sasuke tried to touch his cheek.

"I'm not going to hit you, Naruto. I promised you a long time ago I wouldn't do that anymore."

"I know. I'm sorry." He hid his face in Sasuke's clothes, embarrassed.

"By the way, who was that man you where talking to today in the garden?"

Naruto's heart began to race; it felt like something was banging against the inside of his rib cage, demanding to be let out. That very handsome stranger had never left Naruto's mind. He wasn't sure how he felt about the man; he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to see him again

"I don't know who he was…he forced himself on me, I tried to push him off, but… Well, luckily Neji saved me."

"I see." Sasuke decided he didn't want to push the conversation any farther. What's done is done; there is no changing the past, and no sense getting angry at Naruto over something he had no control over.

Naruto could hear Sakura sniffling outside, running around the halls calling out to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Ok Naruto, you win." Sasuke told him, leaning his head against the boy's small shoulder, so that his breath tickled against Naruto's neck. "I'll go to the beach with you."

**

* * *

**

**---Chapter 03---** _part two

* * *

_

The ride to the beach was long and tiring. They drove along the windy rode with the trees hanging over like arches. Sasuke drove fast in the hydrogen operated car that Orochimaru let him use. The wind rushed against the car. All the windows where rolled down and Naruto, who was sitting in the backseat, caught the soft, flowery sent of Sakura's hair, who was sleeping on his lap.

Naruto didn't bother to tell Sasuke to slow down, it was, after all, sort of nice to be going so fast that the world outside was just a blur of colors. Sasuke handled the car somewhat carelessly, with one hand on the stick the other guiding the wheel with his fingers, his elbows propped out the window. Naruto watched as the wind played with Sasuke's dark hair, and pull his t-shirt tight across his chest. Naruto closed his eyes with a smile and let the cool air hit his face.

After hours of driving, they managed to get there with time to spare before the sun went fully down. The sunset over the calm sea painted the water pink and gold. After parking the car under the shade of a tree, Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side down towards the beach with Sakura standing in between them, holding onto both their hands, walking like this almost made them look like a family.

Sasuke watched as Sakura's bright green eyes lit up with joy at the sight of the sunset and the sea.

"So, Naruto, where is this place you where talking about?" Sasuke asked.

"It's over here," Naruto replied with a grin. "Follow me!"

Naruto dropped Sakura's hand and ran ahead, waving his hands for Sasuke and Sakura to follow. He ran the across the beach, kicking up sand as he went, his mind set on leading them to an old inn on the side of the beach, hidden in behind the weeds and the rocks.

It was a dusty brown, two-story building, simple in structure. What had been white paint was now peeling away and the wooden boards underneath were showing wear; it looked as though the inn had been built before the war.

Naruto walked in through the front door, which clattered on its hinges, making an ungodly amount of noise. He scanned the room until he noticed the man who lay asleep, hunched over the reception desk with his mouth gaping open. The man had long, shaggy white hair, which he wore in a messy pony tail, and on the side of his nose he had a small wart. On the desk next to him lay an orange book entitled '_Icha Icha paradise'._

"Hey, old man! Wake up, old man! You have costumers! Will you wake up?! Jiraiya!!"

The snoring abruptly stopped as he opened one eye lid wiped the drool from his mouth.

"Huh? Well, if it isn't Naruto! How you been, kid? It's been what—four years? I was getting worried, you guys haven't called."

Without warning, Naruto jumped into the older man's —Jiraiya's— arms, knocking the wind out of him.

"You got to seriously stop doing that, kid. I'm too old to keep up with you." Jiraiya placed Naruto firmly back on the floor before he noticed the two other people standing awkwardly in the lobby. "Hey where's Iruka?"

Naruto turned his head avoiding Jiraiya eyes.

"He's on vacation," Naruto said casually. "Iruka told me to say hi for him, actually."

"Hey there little girl," Jiraiya said not bothering to listen in to Naruto, patting Sakura's pink hair. "Be sure to call me in another 10 years!"

"You'll be dead by then!" Naruto yelled, punching the air, angry that his old friend ignored him.

Then suddenly a woman with breasts the size of two ripe melons came running towards Jiraiya. Her sight was set firmly on the pervert hermit. Before Naruto could blink he saw the woman's fist slam full-force into Jiraiya cheek, sending him flying to the other end of the room.

"You horny old bastard!" She yelled.

Sasuke and Sakura still stood trying to grasp what was going on while the woman grabbed onto Jiraiya's kimono and began to shake him violently.

"I can't keep my eyes off you for one second! I honestly don't know what possessed me to marry you in the first place!"

Naruto placed both of his arms around his head.

"Hah hah, you haven't changed one bit Granny Tsunade!"

"Ahh is that…" Tsunade stopped ranting immediately and dropped her unconscious husband to the ground, letting his head bang on the floor. "Is that my little Naruto?"

Tsunade was a beautiful woman. She had been born and raised in a small village—needless to say she was something of a gambler: no doubt one of the world's worst—despite her great personal strength, she was something of a fool when it came to money and had earned herself the title of the "legendary sucker".

She wore her long blonde hair tied back in matching pig-tails, and could pull of the childish hairstyle simply because she looked so much younger than her thirty-five years—no doubt due to all the beauty creams she uses.

She and Jiraiya met as children, although back then they hated each other—even as a child Jiraiya had already been a drunken pervert and Tsunade had been something of a hard-ass when it came to his vices. But, as they grew older they learned to love each other for their flaws as well as their good points—besides who else would put up with either of them? Not only that, but Jiraiya was the first person to accept Tsunade as a psychic. Tsunade in turn was the first person to say that Jiraiya should look into publishing his perverted novels.

Tsunade's psychic ability was next to useless when it came to gambling. She had been born with a documented power, known as psychometry—the ability to divine information from people and objects just by touching them. Tsunade had always considered her ability a curse, due to the detrimental effects it had on her view of reality.

Because her gambling left her and her husband in major debt, she decided to put her curse to good use. Jiraiya saved all his money from selling his books in order to by an old inn on the beach. With hard work Jiraiya and Tsunade opened their motel and palm reading house.

Naruto smiled while Tsunade ruffled his blond hair. "You're a physic, shouldn't you know? Has anyone been by here lately for a reading?"

Tsunade grinned. "How about you be my first customer of the day? Let me read your future."

"You're going to read my future? Am I going to live happily ever after on a farm with lots of sheep, and pigs, and—"

"Let's find out, this reading is on the house. Now, hold out your hands."

Naruto didn't want to argue with Tsunade so he shut his eyes tight and placed his hands in Tsunade silky smooth palms. At that second, his future flashed through her eyes. Sasuke, Sakura and Jiraiya gathered around Tsunade and Naruto, watching with keen interest.

Tsunade's smile faded into shock and then into terror. She collapsed to her knees, dropping Naruto's hands from her horror-struck grip. Her hands clawed at her blonde hair and she opened her mouth in a silent scream, her body began to shake uncontrollably.

_Something is wrong. I have never seen her like this_, Jiraiya thought to himself.

"Is she ok?" Naruto cried; his face scrunched up with worry.

"She'll be fine, I'm sure. Look, it's getting late," Jiraiya turned to Tsunade who was still shaking. "I'll show them to their room. You get some rest, Tsunade."

**-o0o-**

Jiraiya stepped into the door way of Tsunade bedroom. "I need to talk to you," he requested.

"Come on in" Tsunade said, walking to the door. She pointed to a chair near her desk and shut the door behind him. Tsunade slumped into the chair.

"Do you want to tell me what happened? What did you see?"

"I can't tell you," she said, her voice quivering. "It's too …."

"What? I don't understand…tell me, Tsunade."

"Remember when I told you, that everyone has an invisible book. This book; destiny, fate…or whatever you want to call it, is already written before a person is born."

"What did you see?"

"I'm not entirely sure, it was a bit blurry. But I think it has something to do with the death of Iruka."

"Dead? Naruto told me that—"

Tsunade cut off Jiraiya before he could continue. "Those three: Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto… they should never have meet. It would have been for the best." She faced her husband, her nerves having calmed some. "Do you really want to know what is in store for Naruto?"

Jiraiya frowned and slowly nodded his head.

"In the next two days—"

**-o0o-**

Sakura lay awake in her bed, next to Naruto who was snoring loud. She couldn't take her eyes off the grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the room; it reminded her of her first home, she left not too long ago.

_**---**_

"Oh, Sakura-chan how many times have I told you to—" the woman's voice was suddenly cut off by a hacking cough that wracked her whole body "…brush your hair for mommy?" She asked, as she began to cough again. Sakura's mother smiled weakly and ran her bony fingers through her little girl's pink hair.

Sakura and her mother lived in a one bedroom apartment, no bathroom or running warm water. On the side of the building was an empty lot where people would urinate and sell hookers.

"Mommy, when will Daddy come home? He hasn't been back for a long time and I'm really, really hungry."

"I'm sure Daddy will be home soon, darling."

Sakura looked closely at her mom. She long light golden brown hair that went down her back, but it was now greasy and hung limply around her face, rather than in the full waves Sakura was accustomed to. Her olive green eyes were foggy and had a strange feverish gleam to them, with dark circles under her eyelids. For weeks her mother had been too weak to even get out of bed, Sakura never understood why.

"Sakura you're going to grow up to be a beautiful girl, you're going to be special to someone, and you will be happy. I know you will, and when I am gone I will always be watching over you, ok?"

Sakura had no idea what her mother was talking about, but she nodded as if she did. Suddenly feeling tired, Sakura fell into a deep sleep next to her mother, when she woke up she looked at the grandfather clock. It was eleven thirty at night. She sat up from her bed and looked at her mother.

"Mommy…Mommy are you awake? Mom?"

She lay by her mom and put her hand on the woman's cheek. Her skin was as cold as ice and extremely pale.

"Mommy, you're really cold. Here. You can have my blanket."

But her mother didn't answer.

The next day Sakura's father came rushing into the apartment with two men wearing bright yellow Hazmat suits, marked with bio-waste warnings.

One of the strange-looking men unfolded a large white sheet and threw it haphazardly over the dead body.

"Hey…where are you going to bury her?" Sakura's father whispered to one of the men in astronaut suits.

"Where we take all the diseased people: we throw their bodies into a big hole in the landfill, until it's all filled up, and then we burn them."

"You mean there's no funeral?"

"What are you out of your fucking mind? We do this for a reason, you know. If a flood where to bring the bodies floating up to the city, would have another black plague on our hands. We don't want that."

Sakura's father nodded his head showing that he understood.

"Where are you taking my mom?" Sakura screamed. "Let her go! Let my mommy go! She's sleeping!" Sakura grabbed on to the front of one man's suit and pulled until the man with a mask began to yell and her father pulled her off. Her father picked her up and tossed her over his broad shoulder, still kicking and screaming.

"Sakura, she is going to a better place. Don't you want Mommy to be happy?"

"I want Mommy here with me!"

The men were gone now, leaving no traces of Sakura's mother.

"Shhh now." Holding her to his chest, he started rubbing her back. "We'll see her again in a place called heaven."

"Is it a nice place?" Sakura asked, holding on to her father's chest.

"Beautiful. The sky is always blue, no one is ever hungry, it's a beautiful place, I promise."

After that, days later, all Sakura would do is sit on the window ledge, her knees bent looking outside at the dirty street, where dirty children played baseball and had fun with their friends.

Without her mother, Sakura was very lonely and she wanted friends just like the children playing outside. Her father was never home, the second he came all he did was leave her food and make sure she bathed and changed her clothes.

But one day he didn't come back.

The landlady rushed into Sakura's room looking for her father. Sakura explained to the furious woman that he hadn't been back in weeks, but she was sure he would come back soon. He always did, but…never this long.

The fat woman with a double chin and chicken grease on her dress would hear none of it. Sakura's father was all ready two months behind on the rent. She grabbed Sakura by her pink hair and tossed her out on the street with nothing but the clothes on her back.

Sakura roamed the streets looking for food. If Naruto hadn't have found Sakura when he did, she would have died on the streets alone.

**---**

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered. "Are you awake?"

"I'm so excited, I can't sleep," Sakura said. "Will you tell me…? I always wanted to know what heaven is like."

Naruto smiled warmly. "Heaven is a place where only good people go to when they—," Naruto was about to say 'when they die' but then he stopped himself because he had never really told little Sakura what dying was, and he wasn't sure she knew.

She assumed it was a special place where her mother was, and that was it. He didn't have the heart to tell her, but he knew it would have to be soon because she would eventually figure it out. "When they go on vacation."

Sakura said nothing, but already the twinkle was fading from her eyes and her mouth had slackened with exhaustion. Naruto leaned over and softly kissed her cheek. She giggled and sat up from the bed, taking her time to get situated crossing one leg over the other and drawing her skirt over her knees.

"How do you know those funny people?"

"You mean Jiraiya and Tsunade? Well a long time ago, I came to this beach with Iruka." Naruto paused; it always seemed to hurt every time he talked about Iruka. He looked at Sakura, who was telling him, with her green eyes, that he should continue. "He knew them since he was a boy. I don't remember much about that, but I do remember I would always search the beach looking for hours for the perfect seashell to give to Iruka. I thought it would be more special if I found one rather than buy one at the gift shop, you know?" Sakura nodded "Anyways, I would be on my knees in the sand, until the sun when down, looking around for that perfect shell. I never did find one, unfortunately."

Sakura tool in a deep breath and sat up from her bed.

"It wasn't your fault."

Naruto turned his back facing Sakura. "What?"

"Sasuke-kun told me! He told me that Iruka died protecting you from that car! He pushed you out of the way because he wanted to protect you. It wasn't your fault!"

"Yes, but if I didn't…"

"I don't know why you blame yourself, but I am sure, that's what Iruka would say right now. If he is as kind as you say he is." Sakura believed if Naruto tried to get something special, like a sea shell for Iruka. Then that man must be special too.

Naruto sniffled; he wanted to hear those words. Those four words: _it wasn't your fault_. This girl, Naruto thought she is so little yet so strong and smart. He never expected to hear such wisdom from a girl six years younger than him.

He felt his eyes begin to burn with the onset of tears. For as long as Naruto could remember he held in the tears, even at Iruka's funeral, Naruto never cried. When was the last time he cried?

_**---**_

Naruto pointed to his knee, it was cut and bruised from the fall. Tears and snot fell from his face.

"Big boys are not allowed to cry." Iruka told him as he grabbed a tissue from his back pocket and handed it to Naruto. "You're a big boy, right?"

"Yes, I am a big boy! I won't cry ever again. I promise!"

"Now that's a good boy. Come on then, Naruto, I'll give you a piggy back ride on the way home."

_**---**_

Naruto started to cry, Sakura seeing that nii-san was crying, started to cry herself. She put her small arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest.

"When my daddy left me alone," She whispered in his ear. "I hated him! I hated him for leaving me when I needed him the most. But now, I'm glad he did, because otherwise…I never would have met Nii-san or Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto stroked her pink hair and rubbed his thumb over her left eye wiping away the tears. He held her in his arms, rocking her back and forth until she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Sasuke twitched.

He stood behind his door listening closely to the conversation in the other room. They didn't know he was listening, he didn't even know himself why he was listening.

Sasuke turned his full attention to the window. Through it he could see the reflection of the full moon frosting waves of the calm sea.

**-o0o-**

"Holy shit…..holy shit" Jiraiya repeated. For ten minutes that was all the hermit could say after hearing what Tsunade had said about Naruto's future.

"We have to tell them! We have to warn them!"

"We can't the balance of nature could change for the worse. Telling them would do more harm than good. Besides it's too late, fate has already played its cards."

"Are you saying we should do nothing? Just sit back and watch while this tragedy happens?" He was angry. No, he was more than angry. He cared for the boy; he was more than willing to do whatever it took to ensure his happiness.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. That wasn't the only thing I saw, in all that darkness…I saw a ray of light."

"A light? Like what? Meaning a person?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes, a person. But not just any person," Tusunde replied. Jiraiya scratched his head, confused.

"You don't think it's that Sasuke kid, right? It can't be him."

"It's a possibility, but I couldn't know for sure. I only saw what his fate had written out."

**-o0o-**

Once it was hot enough, Sakura and Naruto went outside and played for hours in the sand, building castles, and looking for seashells or sand crabs.

The waves crashed on the sand, soaking them up to the knees. Naruto told Sakura to stay where she was at so he could try to get Sasuke to play with them.

Naruto ran over to Sasuke was and sat on the yellow and red beach towel.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled "You're going to get sand all over my towel."

"You're such a spoil-sport, Sasuke"

"Hey, where is Sakura?"

"She's right over—" Naruto pointed to where he had just told Sakura to stay. Naruto searched the beach with his eyes finding no traces of the girl.

_What? There is no way she could have run back to the inn, not in such short time. Ohhh Shit! The tide must have taken her!_

Naruto sprinted as fast as he could and dove into the salty sea water. He couldn't see anything: just groped blindly with his hands and feet in the water. Once out of breath, he shot up to the surface to get a gulp of air before going back under. He was never going to stop, not until he found Sakura.

Sasuke stood dumbfounded, never moving from his spot to help Naruto, or search for Sakura himself.

It took all of Naruto's strength to drag the girl out of the water. He lay collapsed over her on the sand, the waves still lapping at their legs, trying to drag them back into the deep waters. The blonde boy placed his ear on Sakura's chest.

She wasn't breathing.

_What to do! What am I going to do!_

He took a deep breath, tilted her head and breathed in to her mouth he watched her little chest rise then fall again. Naruto repeated this again and again, never giving up until she finally coughed up green sea water.

Naruto didn't realize till now that Sakura was clenching tightly to something.

Her half open eyes smiled and she relaxed her wrinkly palm to reveal a perfect pink shell. The shell Naruto would have wanted to give Iruka.

"You idiot!" Naruto cried. He held on to Sakura. He would protect her, always.

Sasuke fell to his knees and clawed at his scalp with his fingers. He was such an idiot, a complete fool. His heart stopped when he thought Sakura was in danger. That moment of fear—the realization of his affection— betrayed everything.

"_Do what you want with Sakura, but you're not allowed to kill Naruto."_ Those cruel words repeated over and over in his mind. He didn't want to let them go; he loved them too much. He knew what he needed to do.

Sasuke sprinted to the inn as fast as his legs could take him. The salty beach air clung in his lungs. He needed to call off the trade; he needed to tell Kabuto there was no deal.

He ran past Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were enjoying their afternoon green tea, sitting on the couch in the living room and ran straight into the kitchen.

He was lost in his thoughts. If any anyone should die it should be Orochimaru. That bastard ruined so many lives.

Tenten for instance, her father was a heavy drinker and gambler. He owed a huge sum of money to the mafia and owed even more to Orochimaru, who was not very kind when it came to money.

Her father, fearful for his life, disappeared leaving Tenten's mother buried in debts and daily threats. One day Orochimaru, annoyed at not having received his long over-due money, paid a visit to Tenten's family.

As oldest of twelve siblings, Tenten felt it was her duty to protect her family. Orochimaru was about to kill her mother when she pleaded that he sell her body in place of paying her father's debts. Orochimaru, never one to turn down a pretty piece of flesh, gladly accepted the offer.

"_I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to keep my family safe,"_ Tenten said one day, when she was talking to Sasuke in the garden. _"Even sell my body, that's just how much I love them. So don't be embarrassed to tell Naruto how you feel. Got it?"_

Sasuke didn't understand until now what she meant. In truth, Sasuke envied Tenten, in another year she would go free. Free to go back to her family. Free to do what she wished. He would never be free. Orochimaru owned him. His body, his soul, everything.

"_If you ever leave me, I will search the ends of the world until I find you. Then I will rape and kill that boy that you are so fond of,"_ Orochimaru told him once. Sasuke knew Orochimaru would keep his word: he always did, after all.

Covered in sweat and shaking with fear, Sasuke picked up the phone. He knew Kabuto's personal cell phone number off by heart. His fingers trembled as he dialed the numbers, and rested his head against the phone.

It rang for a long time, and it seemed that Kabuto was never going to answer.

"Pick up the phone, god damn it!"

There came a static click and then:

"Ahh, Sasuke-kun. Hello," Kabuto said.

_How did he know it was me? he shouldn't know this number...no, It doesn't matter._

"I want out, Kabuto! I can't do this! I don't want to sell Naruto or Sakura for revenge! I don't know what I was thinking. I don't want you to take them from me! they are all I have!"

Sasuke was silent for a moment trying to regain his thoughts. He could hear heavy breathing on the line, and groups of people talking in the back ground. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard someone ask if they should clean up the blood.

_Blood?_

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I wasn't listening. Could you repeat that?"

Sasuke gripped the phone so hard his knuckles went white and yelled. "Don't you fuck with me! You heard me loud and clear, I want out!"

Kabuto started chuckling, making the little hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck stand on end.

"The table is set my friend," Kabuto said. "There is no turning back now. I just can't wait to see little Naruto's face when he finds out the one he loved and trusted most was the one who sent him to hell."

Sasuke let the phone drop from his hands. He backed away and bumped into the table where Sakura's doll was sitting. The doll fell to the floor.

Hearing the loud crash, Sasuke looked at the doll, it had fallen face up. Its head half shattered with pieces scattered across the floor, showing the darkness inside that was never mean to be seen.

_To Be Continued…_

_Review?_


	5. Chapter FOUR

---CHAPTER 04---_Bloodbath and betrayal

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_

Kabuto walked up the expensive marble steps of The Pink Cobra. He was followed by eight anonymous-looking men dressed in black suits; each one was carrying a huge briefcase. The men looked as if they where on their way to a funeral, the slow way they walked with their heads hung so their fedoras covered their faces in shadows. Kabuto stopped suddenly and turned to face the men behind him.

"Remember your instructions," Kabuto said bluntly. "Kill everyone but Sasuke and Naruto."

The men nodded their heads gravely, walked past Kabuto and pushed the doors open. They roamed the halls until they found Orochimaru's dining hall. They casually put their briefcases down on the long table, and from them began assembling their semi-automatic machine guns. They strapped together with a series of loud cracks and snaps.

Curious to what the noise was the table clerk ran into the room to ask what time their appointment was. She stopped short once she realized what it was each of the men had in their hands. Her eyes widened as the weapons were directed at her and she turned around to run.

"Guns!" she shouted, trying to raise the alarm. She didn't get very far before one of the men shot her down. Blood spilled across the floor and soaked into the carpet as he looked at what was left of the woman, kicking her in the head with his boot. He then signaled four of the men up the stairs and the remaining three down the left hall.

In a cold, calculated fashion, the men kicked down every door, one by one, and searched the people's faces before gunning them down. Screams were heard, followed by gunshots in every part of the house. Running could be heard as people frantically tried to escape the massacre.

Sitting on the porch swing, Kabuto was languidly smoking a cigar. He tilted his head to get a better view of the falling cherry blossom petals. He then closed his eyes and listened to the chorus of wails and gunshot fire inside of the house.

_This is music to my ears,_ Kabuto thought. _They should be proud, to die on such a beautiful day._

Kabuto sighed and pulled himself up from the swing. He tossed his cigar and ground it out under his shoe and slowly walked inside the house. _I better make sure these idiots don't kill Sasuke or Naruto._

**-o0o-**

Neji sat, staring out the window; unaware of the bloodbath going on just a few floors below him. He was bored without Naruto around and was considering giving Tenten a visit, if she wasn't already busy entertaining customers.

Finally, he heard it: people screaming and running through the halls, and the echoes of what sounded like gunshots. He got up slowly and cracked open the door to see what all the commotion was about.

Recognizing one of the prostitutes running in the hallway outside, he grabbed her and dragged her into his room. He looked into her terror-filled eyes and asked "What the hell is going on around here?"

"Men," she cried breathlessly. "…with guns!"

"Who?" He demanded, shaking her.

"I don't know! Just Run!" The young prostitute suddenly shouted at him, angry and scared. She pushed her way past the shocked Neji aside and runs towards the only exit in the building.

Instead of following her and the others like her, like his instincts told him, he ran up the stairs to warn Tenten. It was then that he glanced down the steps and looked on with horror as the men in dark suits shot down the line of people who where trying to escape from the building.

Tenten…He had to get to Tenten, and warn her.

Neji ran up the stairs in such a hurry he tripped over the hem of his kimono, nearly sending him toppling down the stairs. He pulled himself up using the railing for leverage and continued up the stairs. When he reached Tenten's door his head was buzzing with fear-induced adrenaline and he was breathing heavily. Without any hesitation he started banging on the door like a mad-man, trying to knock it down.

"Tenten! Open the door! It's me, Neji!" He yelled.

"Neji?" Tenten asked in surprise, opening the door. "What brings you here?"

She blushed and pulled her loose robe up over her bare shoulders.

Neji didn't have time to waste on formal greetings. He grabbed her by the arm, locked the door behind him, and shoved her toward the large window at the far wall; he threw it open and looked down.

"We have to jump out the window."

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? I'm on the fourth floor!"

Neji got very angry at that point—stress and adrenaline brought on by fear could do that to a man—and he felt the need to yank her hair for even daring to question him, but instead he took a deep breath trying to calm his racing heart and slowly tried to explain the situation to her.

Tenten stood shocked, her mouth half open and her brown eyes filled with tears. The gunshots where getting closer to the room, causing Tenten to flinch.

"Why?" she asked desperately, her voice trembling, her body shaking with fear. "Why? Why would anyone want us dead?"

"I don't know."

There was noise out in the hallway, telling Neji and Tenten that the men with guns had arrived outside their door. Neji was taken by surprise, he was sure he and Tenten would have more time. The man kicked down Tenten's door breaking it in half with the heel of his boot, like so much cardboard; the machine gun in his hands was pointed toward Tenten.

Neji pushed Tenten out of the way of the weapon, telling her to run. She fled into the other room while Neji remained behind. He wasn't about to die without a fight, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to Tenten if he could help it.

Taking a breath to steady himself, Neji charged at the man and pulled out a sheath from underneath his kimono. The man evaded him easily, grabbing Neji by the hair and kneeing him in the stomach, which sent Neji rolling on the ground, gasping for air.

The man leveled his gun at Neji, who was still on the ground. A trickle of blood escaped his split lip, Neji sat there; glaring up at the man about to kill him. He smiled and said, "Bring it on asshole."

Time seemed to slow as Tenten threw her body knocking Neji on the ground. She wrapped her one arm around his head and held onto his waist with the other, effectively keeping him from moving. Then, with all her might, pushed him as hard as she could, effectively away from the bullets.

_I'm glad_, Tenten thought, as the bullets pierced her body, ripping her insides apart. _I am so glad to have met you._.._._ Once the clip was empty Neji ran to her and cradled her in his arms. Tenten's grip around Neji waist became tighter.

_When I'm with you, I felt relaxed. Before you came here I was in pain a lot, but when I'm with you, Neji, I feel like everything is ok. I'm sorry. I wish I was able to get the chance to tell you sooner. But I guess it wasn't in the hands of fate._

"Neji…I've always liked you as more than just a friend…could we….have ever become more, you think?" Tenten, choking on her own blood, gave the man she secretly loved one last smile before falling limp in his arms.

"You idiot!" Neji shouted. "I told you to run away! Why!" He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her forehead. "Why! Damn it…_**Tenten**_!"

The intruder was now smiling, watching the performance. He picked up his gun and aimed it at the emotionally wounded Neji. The stranger put his finger on the trigger when a hand reached out and lowered his gun.

It was Kabuto; even though his spectacles obscured his eyed, Neji could see that he was displeased.

"They are not here. Tell me where they are," he ordered.

"You?" Neji whispered. "You're a customer… I've seen you around."

"I need to know where Sasuke is. Tell me, and maybe I'll keep you alive."

_Naruto is with Sasuke; I don't care about Sasuke, but if I tell him where Sasuke is then... then Naruto will die._

"Fuck you." Neji said, then he spat on Kabuto's shoe.

"Wrong answer," He turned to the man. "Do what it takes to make him talk just without killing him. Well, at least not until we get what we want."

They were interrupted by Kabuto's cell phone ringing, the tune was a Mozart waltz. He flipped open his cell phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Ah, hello, Sasuke-kun," he said, cheerfully.

_Sasuke?_Neji thought.

"Boss, do you want us to clean up the blood?"

Kabuto didn't answer the man; instead he gave him a look that seemed to question the oaf's intelligence, and continued talking to Sasuke on the cell. "Sorry Sasuke-kun, but could you repeat that for me please."

Neji could hear Sasuke shouting into the phone on the other end.

Kabuto laughed, but his face twitched with anger.

"The table is set, my friend. There is no turning back now. I just can't wait to see little Naruto's face when he finds out the one he trusted the most sent him to hell."

Kabuto didn't hang up the phone; he stood still for a moment, looking at the device in his hands and started laughing again.

"Heh heh heh…the idiot didn't hang up the phone, it looks like I'll just have to wait here until tomorrow morning." Kabuto looked down at Neji. "Kill him. I have no further use for him alive. No, fuck it, I'll do it myself."

Gunshots rang throughout the room, lost in the symphony of screams below.

**-o0o-**

"Yes, Orochimaru will know what to do. We will go back home and everything will be as it was before." Sasuke said to himself, trying to convince himself more so than anything.

Sasuke looked at the doll; he bundled all the shattered pieces up in a cloth and tossed the whole thing into the trash. He would just tell Sakura that it was her fault for leaving it on the table.

Sasuke quickly turned around to face a concerned Tsunade and Jiraiya standing in the hallway. They looked at him with distress.

"Sasuke," Tsunade said. "If you leave this place-"

Before she could finish Naruto came trotting up to them, absolutely dripping, leaving a trail of salty puddles behind him, carrying an equally sodden Sakura on his back.

"Naruto, Sakura, go pack your things," Sasuke ordered. "We are leaving, now."

"Leaving?" Naruto complained, sounding perturbed. "We just got here."

"Listen to Naruto, Sasuke," Jiraiya told him.

"Naruto, I want you to stay here, with us."

"Thank you, Tsunade, but I want to stay by Sasuke's side," He then turned to Sasuke. "I will follow him to the ends of the earth, if I have too." Naruto leaned over towards Sasuke, who was smiling, and slipped his hand into Sasuke's own, larger, hand.

"Then leave Sakura here, and--"

"No! I wanna stay with Nii-san!" Sakura wrapped her arms Naruto's neck, and constricted tightly, almost choking him.

"Heh heh. Okay, okay, Sakura-chan! I won't leave you behind. I promise."

Without another word, they packed their things and left.

Naruto gave one last wave to Jiraiya and Tsunade; Naruto took one last look at them, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach.

_I'm just a little anxious. Nothing bad will happen if I'm with Sasuke_.

Still, in a dark part of his mind he couldn't help but feel like this would be the last time he saw them.

As soon as they jumped in the car, Sasuke gunned the engine, speeding—speeding so that they left the on-ramp at seventy and climbing. Sasuke stared straight ahead, as though all that remained of the world lay at the end of the road.

Naruto glanced at the speedometer: ninety miles per hour and still climbing.

"Sasuke…"

"Go to sleep Naruto."

For a while they where alone on the road, then in a flash they passed by a truck and other nameless cars started turning up on the side of the highway.

Sasuke was getting tired himself, so he decided it wouldn't hurt if the pulled over on the highway to get some sleep.

"We will rest here tonight."

**-o0o-**

A ray of sunlight seeped through the pearly white curtains and onto the sleeping man's face. He groaned and turned his back to the window.

A Rooster crowed.

Wearing nothing but a pair of blue boxers, he sat up from his comfortable twin bed and placed his feet on the throw rug. He sat there for a moment and ran his fingers through his puffy, dark brown hair before grabbing his dark glasses and sliding them up his nose.

He stared blankly at an old painting that hung on his wall above his bed. Other than that painting and an iron cross, the walls where completely bare.

Under the stained-glass window stood an ancient piano covered in a thick layer of dust and to the right side of the room, a bookshelf stacked neatly with ancient books from all walks of life. There were books of poets, religion, science, cooking and cleaning, even women's magazines, and books with plays of stories with princess and dragons in a far away distant land. Any book published, he owned it, or was at least looking to own it.

Once he was fully clothed, he made sure to put on the white collar under his black long-sleeved shirt, and then he shoved a crystal bead rosary into his pocket.

"Father Shino," a soft voice said, accompanied by a tapping lightly on the wooden door.

"What is it, Hinata?" Shino said calmly.

"Your breakfast is ready."

She opened the door with one arm and handed Shino a large platter of eggs, bacon and hotcakes.

"Many thanks, Hinata."

The young Sister blushed, nodded and folded her palms over another. Her long blue hair was hidden underneath her black veil, and she was dressed in a modest black habit, the only ornamentation she wore was around her neck: there dangled a golden crucifix. Despite the modesty of the garment she wore, it was still easy to discern the beautiful curve of her large breasts and wide, child-bearing hips. Shino, or any man for that matter, was not blind to this or the twinkle in her eye that was reserved for Father Shino alone.

"Not at all. I'm more than happy to do it, Father Shino," Hinata answered with a happy smile.

Without another word, Shino sat down to eat his food while Hinata stood in the corner patiently watching him to finish his meal, so she could take the plate to the kitten on the other side of the church.

She observed from where she stood that on the chair by the bookcase were freshly picked roses already placed neatly in a hand-woven basket. Seeing the concerned look in Hinata's eyes, Shino answered her question before she could ask it.

"Yes," Shino said. "After breakfast I plan on taking a walk behind the church and putting fresh roses on the graves."

"Of course Father," Hinata said.

It was an old routine; every Monday Shino would take a walk and put fresh flowers on the hundreds of nameless graves. When Hinata was little, she had followed him one day; she could never forget the look on his face. It was filled with so much sadness and pain.

When she finally got the courage to ask who the graves belong to, he told her that they belonged to his wife and two children. This had surprised the little girl as Shino himself looked no older than twenty-five—hardly old enough to have children—which meant that he had had a family very young.

Over ten years had passed since that day, and for the life of her, Hinata had yet to notice Shino ever looking any older than he did then.

She was about to pick up the now empty plate when she remembered that Shikamaru asked her, while she was making breakfast, to tell Shino to meet him in the church hall, but Shikamaru arrived to tell the head priest himself before Hinata could get the words out.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru entered Shino's room and closed the door behind him. His hair seemed to contradict his lazy nature: pulled back into a ponytail in such a way that it stood straight on end. However, he wore the same modest church clothes as Shino, which toned down the flamboyancy somewhat.

"I got call this morning from Demon Watch." Shikamaru said. "There is a case five exorcism needed in downtown. You and Kiba are to—"

"No, I'm going to need you for this mission."

"Ugh," Shikamaru groaned. "This is too troublesome for an early morning assignment."

"A level five demon? Father Shino! I…" Hinata still stood behind Shino, hands clasped tight with worry.

"Hinata, there will be nothing for you to worry about," Shino told her, reassuringly. He walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The top of her head barely reached his shoulder, so she had to look up at him to see his face. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Hinata's heart stopped in her chest. She smiled then looked past Shino at Shikamaru who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'll leave the flowers in your care." He handed the basket of flowers to Hinata whose face was still full of worry.

_Honestly, I wish those two would just admit that—_

"Shikamaru, stop."

"What?"

"You were about to step on a beetle."

"What is with you and bugs?" Shikamaru asked. "So troublesome."

Shino bent down and picked up the lady bug and gently stroked it with his finger. "Bugs are fascinating creatures, they roamed the planet before humans existed and will be here when we are long gone."

"Um …Okay."

Shino ignored Shikamaru and continued walking down the hall until he reached the wide open field that met him at the front of the church.

"Father Shino!" Hinata shouted. "Please," Hinata placed her hand over her heart. "Please be safe."

Shino looked at her and nodded. He then looked at the church that was his home. It wasn't very big, as far as cathedrals go, but it was home to the few priests and the thirty or so orphan children Sister Hinata had brought back from the city. It was built in 2007, making it one of the oldest churches to have survived the war.

"What about me?" Shikamaru pointed to himself. "Honestly, women are so troublesome."

Hinata knew Shikamaru meant it differently. Well, she hoped he did anyways. She gave one last wave and walked back through the large church, her tiny footsteps echoed in the stillness. She stopped at a door and cracked it open to still see Kiba still sleeping in bed.

"Kiba," Hinata said. "It is yours and Choji's duty to do early morning mass today and—"

"What? That bastard left me to do mass!" Kiba yelled, almost falling out of the bed.

"Please Kiba, don't speak ill of Father Shino."

She walked into the room and threw open the curtains. Looking out of the window at the roses that were in full bloom, a great feeling of peace came over her. A gust of air blew inside Kiba's chambers ruffling her veil and habit.

Kiba had to turn away from her, due to the 'unholy feeling' he got in the pit of his stomach every time he looked at her. It was forbidden for a priest to fall in love with a nun. At least...that's what it was like here.

He looked down at his stuffed dog, Akamaru, which sat neatly on the corner of his bed. That's what he would name his real dog, if he ever gets the chance to own one.

He heaved a great sigh and apologized to her. "You're right," Kiba said. "If it wasn't for Shino we wouldn't be here, would we?"

Hinata bowed her head and walked out of Kiba's room allowing him to dress and prepare for mass. She wandered around for a bit, toiling over her daily morning chores. She finished sometime after noon and took the basket full of fresh roses on her walk around the solemn grave site.

Hinata pulled out the weeds that threatened to encroach on the graves and picked up the old flowers, replacing them with the new ones. The grave stones were so old that the etchings of the names had long faded into nothing and it looked as if they would shatter into dust if a person so much as sneezed.

Hinata couldn't understand it. Shino looked so young and yet the graves as old as time. Maybe she would never understand.

She felt a presence behind her, and standing up, realized it was the strange silver-haired man, Kakashi who always came by for afternoon mass.

"I don't know why you even bother coming to church; you're a non-believer just like the rest of the world." Hinata said angrily, her gaze never leaving the old gravestone in front of her.

"You know, I've come to repent my sins and all that other good stuff."

"No, I believe you come because you're guilty and you want to find answers that can only be found here. But the fact is that you're angry at the world and its people."

"I can't really blame the rest of the world. With nothing but tragedy and hardship in life wouldn't anyone become a non-believer?" Kakashi asked his remaining eye gazed at Hinata who kept her back to him.

He folded his arms and then leaned against the white picket fence, continuing on when Hinata made no response. "Like today, I was flipping through the pages the news paper this morning and I read that the poor people of Konoha die every day, yet the rich still flourish as if nothing is wrong. It's funny how the rich live in a place of lies."

"I don't see any amusement in it."

"I'm sure you're aware of what's happening around the world, despite the fact that you live in a church in the middle of the boonies, taking care of orphans. Another war is coming. I can feel it. Where is god when you need him?"

"That is not the point. So, tell me then, why do you come here still?" Hinata asked.

"I came for confession." Kakashi said bluntly.

"Really? I hardly dare ask what you did; I'm very sure your job is more than sinful enough."

"It's not what I did now, but what I am going to do later. Actually, it's not even me who is going to do it."

"What then?"

"I hired a Hitman to kill my father, the chief of police."

"Why?" Hinata asked, looking up at him. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I woke up one morning and just decided out of the blue to kill my father. He's a corrupt cop. He takes money just to turn a blind eye to the crimes."

"It's a sin to—" Hinata, for some reason, seemed unable to finish the sentence. She looked up at Kakashi finally, only to find him looking at her with anger.

"Don't you think I know that? But you're not the one who had to see that woman who was still clinging to her child, even with five bullets in her head. You're not the one turning a blind eye to the mass killings just for money. It's always about money! When I was little I looked up to my father. He was the very person that made me want to become a—" At that moment Kakashi's cell phone rang, cutting him off. He answered it, listening to the man on the other end, but said nothing.

"I have to go, do me a favor and tell Shino I was here."

"I will."

"Thanks."

**-o0o-**

Kisame picked up the phone and dialed Itachi's phone number. Kisame's eyes never strayed from the holographic screen that portrayed the image of one Hayate Kakashi.

"This better be good, Kisame," Itachi hissed from the other end of the line.

"You where right, Itachi. Kakashi is a fucking pig: a cop out to hit the chief of police. This could be more trouble then we asked for. We can have the whole police force looking for us."

"So, you got lazy and hacked into the computer system again, Kisame."

"I'm not ready to go to prison again; I don't think I would be able to handle that again. Plus, it was a bitch to break out of and if you weren't there I might have never been able to do it."

Itachi made no response, but he hadn't hung up yet, either.

"I'm telling you it's a big risk. Can you do it, Itachi?"

"Yeah, I can do it. Tonight for sure. Tonight I'll hit the old man."

**-o0o-**

"This is why I love the country," Shikamaru said, leaning out the car window, and smiling slightly. "I don't have to breathe in the filthy smog the city has to offer."

Shino said nothing; looking straight ahead. His face showed no emotion, and nothing of his thoughts.

"Is this the place?" Shikamaru asked as the car began to slow and turned into a driveway, partially hidden by the trees.

Shino nodded his head and said in the same toneless voice he always used, "Yes."

Shikamaru got out of the car and grabbed a bag from the back of the seat.

"What a dump."

Seconds later they were greeted by a hysterical woman. She ran out of the house and grabbed hold of Shino, speaking in another language. Shino didn't flinch, except to grab hold of her wrists: he listened intently to every word the woman had to say.

"What is she saying?" asked Shikamaru, who didn't speak a word of that language, or any other language for that matter. The woman grinned toothlessly, pushing her greasy hair back over her shoulders before motioning toward the house.

"She says that her son is possessed. She needs our help and—" He became distracted as the woman was still speaking and motioning with her hands "and her older sons have tied him to the bed. She said she had no choice…he was not himself."

The priests followed the woman into the filthy house. The floors littered with trash and dirty clothes. Cockroaches scurried everywhere; the floors were practically alive with them. The sinks were piled high with unkempt dishes, as were the filthy kitchen counters.

Shikamaru had to refrain from holding his nose. The whole house smelt of cat piss and drying vomit. He scanned the room, but he didn't see any cats around or the sons that the woman had mentioned earlier.

The room the woman led them to was dark, and, if possible, even worse smelling than the kitchen had been.

Shino could see that the boy was tied up with rope; his skin was discolored and pale. His eyes black pools of emptiness. The young boy smiled up at them and spoke with a voice not of this world.

Shikamaru pulled the bible out of the bag he was carrying on his shoulder and started speaking psalms making a continuous sign of the cross. He sprinkled holy water on the boy.

"It will not work," Shino said "it's way too late to save the boy. His soul has been devoured by whatever has taken over him."

"What makes you say that? How can you tell by just looking?"

"Don't question me, it will get you killed," Shino extended his arms. "Show yourself, demon!"

**So, you came after all, Father Shino. I'm glad.** The boy gave an eerie grin, although his mouth never moved once to form the words. His body stretched and pulled apart, revealing the demon within.

The creature had short, malformed forearms that ended in three-fingered claws, capable of rending flesh from the bone. Its eyes were yellow and bird-like, which matched the crane-like beak, although its ears were depressed on his head like those of a wolf.

**My brothers told me of you, and how you killed my demon brethren. I want revenge! You killed my comrades! Now I'll kill you!** The spines that protruded from its back quivered with anger, preparing for the attack.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Shikamaru asked. "Shino!"

"I don't know." Shino lied.

Shikamaru was so focused on the demon; he failed to notice that the woman sneaking behind him. The woman hit Shikamaru over the head with a metal pan. Shikamaru's head swam with the force of the blow, and he toppled to the floor.

**I'll kill him after I kill you.**

_Fuck, that woman was just a puppet; this whole thing was nothing more than a setup._

The Demon fled the building. Shino followed behind, not wanting it to escape. Shino, upon catching up to the thing, threw a cross at the demon.

The demon mocked the priest.**Do you really think your petty crosses will work on the likes of me?**

Shino stood calmly and watched as thick metal wires shot out from the ends of the cross and wound themselves tightly around the demon, constraining its limbs to its body, effectively binding him.

**What? What did you do to me, you fucking—?**

"Those garrote wires are like magnets to demon energy, they will continue to constrict until they cut through your flesh and bone, eventually tearing you to pieces. I hope you don't mind becoming demon sushi."

The demon laughed, showing the row upon row of sharp fangs, rather like the inside of a shark's mouth, Shino thought.

**Heh heh… You take me as a fool? I know all about your dirty tricks.**

The demon flexed his muscles, forcing his arms up and away from his body. The wires that bound him strained and broke like so much tooth floss.

Despite being faced with a losing battle, Shino's face remained as calm as it always was. His nonchalance only served to anger the demon further, and without thinking he charged at Shino.

The demon grinned, its tail twitching in annoyance. A moment later, the limb sliced through the air, cutting through Shino's arm like a hot knife through butter. The arm went flying; landing a ways away, blood arced through the air, splattering across the tiled roof.

Shino frowned, annoyed by the loss of his limb. He sauntered over to his arm and lifted it back into place. The flesh grew and stretched, reattaching his arm to his shoulder, without so much as a scar.

"So, the rumors are true. You are an immortal… but in order for a human to become immortal they must make a pact with the Devil."

"It is true, I am a cursed human: damned to forever wander the earth. And when it ends I will stand outside Heaven's Gates until the end of Time. But I will continue to fight demons until my time on earth is up."

"Well, this changes everything. The world will end sooner than you think, Damned Priest. The Demon Prince is born! The world as you know it will soon be at its end!

"It's a shame we won't get to finish our little game. But on the Night of the Blood-Red Moon we will meet again."

The demon extended its arms to the sky. Bat-like wings ripped through the flesh just under his shoulder blades and extended out with sickening sounds. Shino could only watch as the demon as flew off into the distance. Then he remembered.

_Shikamaru…_

Shino ran down the halls to find Shikamaru still passed out unconscious on the dirty floor.

He shook the younger man, and when he got no response, shook him harder, calling out his name. But Shikamaru made no response. Shino couldn't figure think of anything else to do, so he slapped his associate hard across the face.

"OUCH! What the hell, man?"

"You did not wake when I called your name."

"Hey… Shino, what happened with that demon?"

"He got away."

"How troublesome. Well," Shikamaru yawned. "You can't win them all so let's go back—"

"I'm not going back."

"What do you mean 'not going back'? What about Hinata? She'll be worried if you don't return home."

"Tell her I'll be back soon. Here, take the car. It might take some time before I am able to return."

"Ugh," Shikamaru scratched his head. "You're serious aren't you? Well come back, okay."

Shino nodded and handed the keys to Shikamaru. He walked past Shikamaru and continued down the hall stepping over the body of the possessed woman, he knew she was dead.

_So, the the 'demon prince' was born?_ Shino's mind raced as he turned the corner, walking in the same direction the demon had flown.

**-o0o-**

Sasuke slowed down and turned onto the road to The Pink Cobra. A feeling in his stomach nagged at him, telling him, for some reason, to turn back, to just keep driving. But he ignored it and drove on.

Upon pulling into the long drive of the whore house, Naruto quickly undid his seatbelt and jumped out of the car before the vehicle had even stopped moving.

_I can't wait to tell Neji and Tenten what a—_

Naruto ran up the gravel drive and hopped up, over the porch steps and casually walked inside of the Pink Cobra.

What he saw would forever haunt his nightmares. Blood splattered in arcs across the walls and dripped from the ceiling, pooling on the floor, under the bodies mutilated by multiple gunshot wounds that littered the floor. The house was silent, filled only with the dead. Naruto looked up at Sasuke who just entered the room, holding Sakura by the hand.

Sasuke dropped to his knees on the floor and buried his face in his hands. Sakura knelt down beside him, tears streaming down her face.

Naruto stumbled back, away from the bodies; he was too numb to cry. Instead he ran up the stairs, screaming. "Is anyone here? Is anyone alive?"

He frantically searched through every bedroom, calling out to his friends while Sasuke and Sakura stayed down stairs.

"Neji? Tenten? _Anybody_!"

He tripped over what looked to be a human torso, and collapsed in puddle of now cold blood. Naruto looked around himself and screamed. Ignoring what was now splashed on his hands and knees, he got up and ran into Neji's room.

_Thank God nobody is here_. He clung to hope, anxiously searching the halls, praying that Neji and Tenten were still alive. He tripped again, falling to his knees. Looking up, he noticed a man standing in front of him.

The man looked at him through gleaming spectacles, hiding behind a trick of the light. His clothes were completely unsullied by the disgusting amounts of blood that surrounded him, his shoes were even still polished and gleaming.

"Kabuto! Thank God! Thank God you're still alive!" Naruto shouted desperately. "Who would do this? Do you know?"

Kabuto said nothing. He smirked down at the trembling boy who was soaked to the skin in day old blood, eyes still hidden by his shining glasses.

"Kabuto? Are you okay?" Naruto walked up to him and touched his vest.

"There is only one person to blame, Naruto. And that is the one care for, the one you love: Sasuke."

"…Kabuto, what? I don't understand…"

"I may have killed every one here, including your precious Tenten and Neji. But it was Sasuke who wanted it. Sasuke's decision was the reason for it."

Naruto's face crumpled with rage and pain and lastly, the confusion of denial.

"You're lying!" Naruto sobbed, ducking his head. He started hitting the man with the flat of his hand. "You're a fucking lair!"

Naruto was too hurt and confused to think anymore. His attention was snatched by the scream he heard in distance.

Naruto, coming back to himself, backed away from Kabuto, only to bump into a much larger man. The smirking stranger wrapped his huge, impossibly heavy arms around the small boy.

Naruto struggled in vain, trying his best to wiggle free. He even went so far as to bite the man restraining him, but his efforts were useless attempts.

Kabuto snickered.

"It's no use, Naruto-kun. He is a cyborg I built. He feels no pain, and if you continue to struggle, well… he can crush a car with his bare hands."

Naruto's eyes widened. He stopped struggling.

Naruto was carried into another room, following the sounds of Kabuto's expensive shoes on the blood-splattered floor. There he saw Sasuke and Sakura surrounded by a group of men in black with their guns pointed inwards at them.

"Let go of them, you bastards!" Naruto yelled, beginning to struggle again.

Sakura's face lit up and she ran toward Naruto, only to be stopped when one of the cyborg men grabbed her by the hair and violently threw her into the nearest wall. She twitched for a moment then stopped moving altogether.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, don't just stand there! Do something: take Sakura and run!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke remained staring in a stupefied daze. He stared blankly, not moving to help Sakura.

Kabuto smiled serenely and took something out of his pocket. He kneeled down next to Sakura and hugging her to his chest, injected something into her neck.

"Get your hands off of her, you fucking bastard!"

Naruto felt so angry, and helpless. He knew he was on the verge of crying; his eyes burned with frustrated tears threatening to leak out. He wanted to kill each and every one of them for hurting the ones he cared about most, but more than that he wanted to kill Kabuto.

"There, there little one," Kabuto said, patting Sakura's hair. He then stood up, using his hands on his knees for leverage, and sauntered over to where Sasuke stood. He leaned in close to Sasuke's face and whispered: "I injected into her blood stream a very, very tiny bomb."

Still smiling he pushed a foreign object against Sasuke's palm, and manually closed the boy's fingers over it. Lifting it to his face, Sasuke saw that it looked rather like an everyday click-pen.

"You have a choice, Sasuke-kun. Push this button, and her head goes 'ka-boom' or this boy can die here tonight just like every other whore in this shit-hole."

Sasuke looked from the device in his hand to Naruto who was still squirming in the cyborg's arms. He then looked at Sakura who was only now recovering from the fall.

"I didn't ask for any of this...why? Why are you doing this?"

"Tick tock, tick tock… Time is running out. What will you do, Sasuke?"

Sasuke bit down so hard his lips turned white and split, bleeding. He held clenched his fists, pressing the device into his palm.

"I –I can't," he whispered.

"For shame, Sasuke-kun. I had such a high hopes for you, too." Kabuto turned to the cyborgs. "Kill him."

The cyborg that held on to Naruto let him go. Naruto's first instinct upon being released was to run to Sakura. She stood up and sprinted towards him, arms outspread.

The cyborgs surrounding them pointed their guns at Naruto, their fingers ready on their guns triggers.

Sasuke closed his eyes.

_Sasuke-kun!_

"_Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. "Look! Looky at what I found!"_

_Sasuke sat up from his bed annoyed that Naruto had gone and left the loud girl in his care._

"_What is it, Sakura?" He answered in a bland voice._

"_I found a pretty flower! Doesn't it look like Nii-san's hair?"_

_Sasuke glanced at the dandelion. It was nothing more than a weed that Sakura had found in the lawn, nothing special._

"_Yeah, it kind of does, doesn't it?" Sasuke smiled and patted the girl's head. "You should give it to him."_

Sasuke still shaking, closed his eyes, and pushed the button.

Sakura's head exploded.

Blood and tissue splattered across the walls and floors and onto Naruto, whose eyes were wide open staring at what was left of Sakura. He stopped short, his body suddenly too stiff to function. His arms were still reaching out to Sakura, who was already dead on the floor.

"Sakura…chan."

Kabuto looked perplexed; he pulled out a pen and a black note book from his back pocket and scribbled down his observations.

"Hmmm, the explosion wasn't as big as I had hoped it to be," Kabuto said talking to himself. "But, it killed in an instant, like I hypothesized."

What happened next startled even Kabuto. Naruto collapsed to his hands knees in the puddle Sakura's blood and began laughing like a maniac. "There is no such things as happy endings!" He screamed. Finally he broke down crying screaming cradling to his chest the pile of still oozing flesh that only a few seconds ago had been Sakura. His heart hurt so much that he felt like he could die from the pain.

"Sasuke" Naruto whined, into the gore of Sakura's shoulder. "Help me! It hurts!"

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But this…this is what I wanted."

Before Naruto could even comprehend to what Sasuke said he felt the blow to the back of his head and he could hear his own head bang against the wooden floor. His eyes closed and he fell into darkness.

_Sakura…_

Naruto woke up in a start. He was in his room: there was no blood on the walls nor were there gory bits and pieces of body parts littering the floor, and sleeping soundly curled up in a ball next to him was Sakura in her favorite pink nightgown covered with a pattern of ducks. She was smiling sucking on her thumb.

"Calm down, Naruto. Calm down it was just a dream, just one big nightmare. It wasn't real." The pain in his chest didn't leave, it still felt constrictive and painful, and like he would never be okay again.

"Nii-san, what's the matter?" Sakura asked. "You're shaking. Did you have a bad dream again?"

"Yeah, it was the scariest dream I ever had in my life."

Naruto combed his sleep-mussed blond hair with his fingers, and smiled at the girl.

"What was it about?" Sakura asked.

"It doesn't matter, it was just a dream."

Sakura wrapped her small arms around Naruto and pressed her head against his chest.

"I love you," she whispered over and over.

Naruto could feel her small body trembling against him as he kissed her soft colorless cheeks. The warmth of her body in his arms faded; her body was suddenly as cold as ice.

"You were always protecting me, weren't you, Nii-san? You tried your hardest right to the very end. That made me very happy."

"What are you talking about, Sakura?"

"Please don't hate Sasuke-kun. He's hurting inside. I'm glad to have met you when I did, because I was very lonely."

"What are you talking about? Don't do this to me, Sakura!"

_**Sakura!**_

Naruto woke up again. This time it wasn't a dream. He could tell by the pain throbbing in his skull. He slowly sat up and touched his hand to the back of his head and looked at his hand which was covered with fresh blood. Not Sakura's, but his blood.

He examined at his new surroundings, careful not to jar his head.

It was the sort of dungeon that one only heard about in fairy tales. The room itself was small and suffocating, with walls that were made of rock, and there was only one window thickly barred to prevent escape.

Naruto wanted to walk up to the window and breathe in the fresh air, but his foot was securely chained to the wall making it impossible to take more than two steps in any direction. Naruto could hear the cars on the busy road outside. He curled up in the corner and rolled himself up in the blanket, allowing himself to cry.

Naruto lay waiting an hour, maybe longer he couldn't be sure. He heard thick footsteps walking up the stairs. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed.

_Please pass my door please! Please_!

Ignoring the laws of Karma, the footsteps stopped right in front of his door, the keys jingled and clattered in the large key hole and the door flung open with a loud creak.

It was Kabuto, this time he was dressed in a white lab coat, eyes still hidden behind unnaturally glinting spectacles.

"Where is Sasuke?" Naruto snarled. The chains that bound his ankles rattled as he tried to attack his once acquaintance.

"I wouldn't be worried about Sasuke, if I were you. He will be just fine," Kabuto said coolly.

"What are you going to do to me?"

Kabuto smiled with soft sadism.

"First, I'm going to inject you with a new experiment of mine. And if you live, you'll eventually be free to go."

"Experiment?"

Kabuto yanked Naruto up by his tangled golden locks and pushed a needle into a blue vein in his neck, injecting eerily glowing red fluid into the boy's blood.

The pain was unimaginable. Naruto screamed bloody murder from his cell. Clawing at his hair and balling up on the floor, as if trying to close in on the pain. Whisker-like scars grew out of his cheeks and his teeth extended painfully into fangs.

Kabuto watched Naruto convulse and change, happily puffing away on a cigar. The boy's actions reminded Kabuto of when he was a little boy how when he would swing cats by their tails the weight of the cat ripped the tail completely out of its body, bones of the spine parting and breaking away from the body. Kabuto was always so fascinated by the tail, because it would twitch for a moment then stop moving. The cat however, would die due to blood loss and the damage to the spine.

Such good memories…

_No! I will not become a demon! I will not become a guinea pig for this sick bastard!_ The effects of the demon injection were starting to fade and Naruto fell helplessly to the floor unable to move due to the sheer amount of endorphins and adrenaline running through his body.

"Good job, you managed to stay alive, as a reward you get to be free as promised, but—"

Naruto had his eyes clenched tight against the pain, he was covered in sweat, his muscles bunched from strain but he could hear Kabuto clearly.

"Why don't we make a game out of it? A game of cat and mouse, if you don't kill me within three years I will detonate this bomb in your brain, making you and a whole city block disappear from the face of the planet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh? I didn't tell you? While you where a sleep I took my time to put a bomb in your skull. It's so much stronger than Sakura-chan's." Hearing Kabuto say her name like he was a close friend made Naruto strain against his chains and snarl in anger.

"I'll give you a two week head start, and then I'll send every assassin and demon after you."

He unlocked the chains and tossed Naruto out into the cold streets outside.

"Let the games begin!"

_To Be Continued…

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_A/N- _On a much happier note I am going to Disneyland for a week, I won't be back for a while so I hope people who enjoyed this chapter review so I can have something to look forward when I come back :D

I would mean a lot to me!Thanks a bunch!

_Please take a second to review and tell Yaoifan01 what you think!_


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